Another Set of Complications
by lenalernova
Summary: A set of one-shots serving as gap-filler and providing additional scenes to my story Family Complications (about Aragorn's daughter). Same storyline, same characters, same warnings (no slash, no traditional Aragorn/Arwen fluff, excess of romance). Check this out if you read and liked Family Complications. If you haven't but you like these, check that one out, if you'd like to. R
1. Scene No 1

Author's Note:

Hello everybody, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define in when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

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**SCENE No. 1 **

**_- _**_set four months after Sybille's wedding (Family Complications - Epilogue)_**_ - _**

She was sitting in the parlor, on the cushion and velvet covered divan, thick drops of tears falling onto the porcelain faces in her lap. This had seemed a good idea once, to come to their room, to remember, to feel the scent of their things, but there was no scent, there were no things, there was only emptiness and hurt to be found in the girls' chambers.

Sybille took all her belongings, everything to the very last cushion when she and Florian moved to their new home. Only her children's tales books and childhood toys were left in her room, and the furniture covered with huge white canvas to be protected from the metal fangs of time. Gilraen's bedchamber was more or less untouched, books, quills, parchments lying on the table, old toys queuing on the shelves, satin cushions and covers lying neatly on the bed. It was only her dresses and a sign of life missing from the room.

She had found both dolls. Sybille's was lying abandoned on top of an empty chest of drawers along with a cloth teddy bear and wooden box containing lacey dolls' dresses. Gilraen's was perching upright between a brunette doll and a wooden kitten, a proud token of a long gone childhood. There they were, the blond dolls, haunting her nights, embittering her days.

Arwen had no idea how long she had been sitting in the twin's empty parlor crying over the twin dolls, the only things she had left from her golden haired girls. She had heard maids passing the corridor, doors opening onto her, confused voices asking if she was all right, but it all seemed an unimportant blur compared to the dolls in her lap, compared to the hole in her heart.

"Arwen" a gentle voice called and she felt a firm hand touching her arm. "Why are you crying, my love?" Aragorn spoke softly into her ears as he drew an arm around her shaking shoulders and sat beside her.

"I miss my girls" she breathed barely audible as she clutched on the dolls to keep herself from sobbing. "It just breaks my heart to have lost them both…" she whispered burying her face into Aragorn's neck.

"What are you talking about, my love? We haven't lost them. You already visited Sybille a number of times. You can visit her anytime" Aragorn told her gently.

"She is not interested in me visiting" Arwen shook her head sniffing, her fingers messing with the dolls nervously. "She has a new life, a new home, a husband, why would she want me to visit her?"

"Because you are her mother and she loves you. Besides, Florian is in Dol Amroth with Eldarion to seat on Imrahil's council. They won't be back for a month. I am sure Sybille would rejoice to have some company, especially yours."

"Fine, fine, Sybille would not throw me out if I visited. But Gilraen… I haven't seen her for _months_! I haven't talked to her for more than a year…" Arwen sniffed helplessly.

"It was your choice not to, my love…"

"I know!" Arwen snapped at him. "And you think that makes it easier? It's even worse like this!"

Aragorn just hugged her as she soaked the collars of his doublet with her tears.

"It's not late yet. You can visit Gilraen anytime you want, too and settle things…"

"Like that bastard of hers will even let me step over his threshold…" Arwen grimaced.

"You are the Queen of Gondor, no man has the right to deny you entering their house, especially not your daughter's husband" Aragorn gave her a stern glance.

"Like he ever gave a damn about what he did and didn't have right to…"

"I understand you. You know I do. But if you ever want to make things up with Gilraen, you will need to learn to tolerate Torundir eventually" Aragorn said brushing her face with his knuckles.

Arwen stood up. She had enough of the sorrow, enough of the tears, enough of all the advice to make friends with the man who took away her daughter.

"I learn with difficulty" she told Aragorn with a wry smile who, understanding that she had enough of the topic, only gave her a sympathetic smile and took her hand.

"You need to eat something, Arwen. Let us go and have lunch, shall we now?"

Arwen nodded gratefully. Aragorn was the best man in the world. Nobody understood her like he did. "Hannon le, Aragorn" she whispered and they both knew it was not the lunch she meant to thank him.

Next morning Arwen woke early. As the maids told her, even Aragorn was still in bed. She climbed out of her silken covers and walked to the window to let some fresh air into her bedchamber. Chilly breeze licked at her face as she opened the wings of the painted window to look upon the White City. It couldn't have been more than one hour after daybreak and the warmth of the sun grew fainter and fainter every passing day. She closed the window and thought what to do. She had been a bad sleeper ever since she moved to Gondor, there was no way she could go back to sleep after wake up, no matter how early it was. She considered going to Aragorn's bedroom to wake him and cuddle up beside him, but Aragorn got so little sleep anyways, he had to work late into the night so often, it'd not do to wake him when he could finally rest. Arwen put on her velvet nightgown and stepped out onto the hallway. She would just go for a walk, see her autumn roses in the garden or something; wait for time to pass.

Half an hour later she was standing in the middle of the twin's parlor again. How she ended up here again, she had no idea. The dolls were lying on the divan, where she left them yesterday. _We haven't lost them._ Aragorn's words echoed in her ears. Not Sybille at least, she thought to herself. With sudden determination, she picked up the dolls. She would go and see Sybille. She would even take her doll to her. Maybe once Sybille would have a daughter and she would decide to pass on the doll to her little one. Or maybe Sybille would have twin girls, like she had, who knows…

After going back to her chamber to wash and dress, she ordered breakfast into her parlor. Proper breakfast. She had yoghurt with light bread and an apple. Then, she went to Brianneth's rooms to ask if her daughter wanted to go along to see Sybille, but she only found the girl's maid telling her that the Princess already left for her dancing lesson at the Academy. And on her way back to her own chambers another maid informed her that the King had left too, for Officer's Council and would have supper with her once he got back. Arwen dismissed the maid and collecting the dolls set off to see Sybille. She had no idea why she took both dolls along, but it just felt right that way.

A groom admitted her into the magnificent entrance hall of the manse. Every time Arwen set foot in Sybille and Florian's home, she understood why her daughter insisted on this place instead of their own quarters in the palace. Sybille was in love with the beautifully ornamented walls, gilded rims and painted frescos of the house, a courtesy of Lord Malberen, commonly known as the wealthiest lord of Minas Tirith, for the freshly married couple.

"Her Highness is being served elevenses in the garden with her guests, Your Majesty" the groom informed her bowing.

Arwen was about to reply when a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

"Mother!" Sybille exclaimed happily as she hurried up to greet her with a blond haired baby in her arms. "I'm so happy to see you! I so missed you, it's been ages since we last met!" Sybille chirped as they hugged.

"Oh darling, I missed you so much too!" Arwen said, joy washing over her heart as she held her daughter. "But you have guests, I hope I do not intrude" she smiled at Sybille.

"How would you? Please join us! We already had a tea and the cakes are coming up too, it's a shame the little ones can't have any yet" her daughter giggled. "But Anarys, you know, Ëlyel's daughter is so excited, she says she loves cherry cakes the best, she is so adorable!"

Of course Sybille would be having guests. She had never been the sort who would sit around bored while her husband is away and Arwen was more than happy to see so.

"I would love to have cakes with you" she nodded at Sybille with a wide smile. She so missed her.

"Splendid! Shall we go to the garden, then?"

"After you, my dearest" Arwen laughed and gestured Sybille ahead. "Oh, Sybille, before I forget…" she remembered suddenly. "I was just checking on the cleaners in your rooms when I found this. I thought you might want to give it to your own daughter once" Arwen smiled as she passed Sybille her old porcelain doll.

"Aw, I can't believe I left this behind!" Sybille sighed as she took the doll with a nostalgic smile. "We played so, so much with these… Thank you for bringing it along!"

"You're welcome, darling" Arwen said concentrating hard not to start crying now.

The baby in Sybille's arm reached out to grab the doll by its blonde wig, but Sybille pulled it out of his reach. "No, no, you naughty boy! It's not a nice thing to hurt girls' dolls!" she laughed at the baby and waved at a maid. "Take this doll to my bedchamber and sit her onto my dressing table. No, wait. Take off her dress and clean it first, then put it back, so she'll be neat and groomed. I'm so glad to have her back!" She smiled at Arwen and dismissed the maid with a nod. "Let us go!"

"And what's the name of this gentleman here?" Arwen asked gesturing at the baby on Sybille's arm. Florian's nephew was her relative at some level too and it was a little awkward not even knowing his name.

"Belendor, son of Barahin, to Your Majesty's service" Sybille cooed instead of the baby who blinked at her wide eyed.

"Ah, what a great knight this little man will make" Arwen smiled at the baby warmly who just yawned at them with sleepy hazel eyes, not understanding a word of the bright future they were visualizing for him.

Arwen followed Sybille along the hallways, up to a two winged garden door where Lady Ëlyel's daughter came running up to them.

"Sybille, when will we have the cakes?" she blinked up at Sybille with sparkling puppy eyes. Arwen thought she was going to melt away. She couldn't remember how many times she heard that sentence from Sybille and Gilraen when they were the little girl's age.

"Oh they haven't yet served it? Well, just a moment, darling, and we'll have the cakes!" Sybille smiled and followed Anarys who disappeared behind an autumn rose arbor.

"Look there now, Auntie Sybille is back" Lady Ëlyel appeared on the corner of the arbor as they approached, holding a darker haired, brownish eyed baby. "And… oh…" her eyes widened in surprise as she caught sight of Arwen. "It's a pleasure to see Your Majesty" the woman said with a curtsy.

Behind Ëlyel, with a loud jangle of porcelain crashing on stone, Gilraen dropped her teacup.

Breath caught in the middle of her tightening throat, Arwen felt dizzy of shock as she beheld her daughter. Frozen silence fell onto the tepid September garden, before Sybille let out a jingling laugh.

"Oh well, that's nothing to worry about, I'll have it cleaned up in a second!" She said and yelled for a maid. "What sort of cake did you say you wanted, Anarys?"

"Cherry! Sweet cherry cake!" the little girl cooed not noticing a thing of what was going on around her.

"If you don't say 'please' you will not get any sort cake, dearest, you know that" Lady Ëlyel joined Sybille leaving only Arwen and Gilraen to the staring at each other in silence game.

Arwen finally recovered. "Well… that took about fourteen years for my son to learn" she said to Ëlyel with a smile and took a stiff step towards her daughter.

"I didn't know I'd find you here…" she started and heard Sybille and Ëlyel fall into a tense silence. "I only came, because I went to…" what was it she lied to Sybille? "…check on the cleaning in her room where I found her twin doll and thought to bring it here, in case she wants to keep it…"

Gilraen merely nodded. She looked unable to utter a word.

"I had no idea, you would be here. But this is a lucky day it seems... that I brought yours along too" she only just realized she was still clutching the other doll. "I know that you have a son… but maybe… you'll have a daughter too and you can give this to her then." In full knowledge that her whole body was shaking, Arwen walked up to Gilraen and held out the doll.

She took it with amused nostalgia. "Thank you" She faltered out choking on the words as she looked up at her.

"You're welcome" Arwen nodded.

Gilraen laid the doll onto the table and messed to put its dress straight and neat as she sat it against the tea jug. She admired her work for a moment, before she spun around, tears welling in her eyes and broke out in heart breaking desperation.

"Mother, please forgive me, I'm so sorry for hurting you, please, please, forgive me!"

A sob escaped Arwen's lips as she threw herself into Gilraen's arms and locked her darling little girl into a suffocating hug.

"No, Gilraen, you forgive me! How could I be so heartless? I missed you so much, you have no idea, I missed you so much, darling…"

"It's fine… Can we… is there any chance that we can forget about everything?" Gilraen looked up at her with teary sapphire eyes.

"It's forgotten, everything is forgotten…" Arwen muttered as she hugged her again, never wanting to let her go. Gilraen was so different from Sybille, so different in every way and it took losing her to realize this, it took starting to miss how different she was to realize it…

Two babies broke into monotone moans behind them.

"See what you have done now? You scared the babies! Shame on you two" Sybille shook her head with a knowing smile. "What are the poor things to think when everybody is crying around…?"

Arwen chuckled as she gave Gilraen one last hug. Then, she turned back to Sybille and an utterly perplexed, but smiling Ëlyel and took the dark haired baby from her arms.

"What a beautiful baby you are!" She whispered in awe as she held and admired her grandson. "And that is something to say with that father of yours… Sweet little Turgalon…"

"You know his name?" Gilraen asked smiling as she walked up to them.

"Darling, I have grown stubborn and resentful, but luckily my memory is still working as it should." Arwen chuckled and rocked the baby. "He doesn't take after you the slightest" she shook her head laughing as she studied him at arm length. His soft, brown baby pile, _that_ characteristic structure of scalp, shining eyes half way between sapphire baby blue and a deep dark chocolate brown color… "How can you look so adorable, huh? How can you?" she cooed to the baby who kicked and wobbled in mid-air, trying to fight his way into Gilraen's arms with frustrated moans.

"He doesn't like me" Arwen laughed and passed the baby to Gilraen. "Taking after your father even in that, aren't you, you angel?" she chirped to him.

"That's not true, he'll like you, he just doesn't know you yet" Gilraen smiled and hugged her son to herself.

"Now this is FINALLY settled, we can have the cakes!" Sybille announced joyfully and gestured at everybody to take their seats. "Or you want to feed the babies first?" she looked at Ëlyel and Gilraen who both shook their heads. "Oh, isn't this just splendid? Now I feel like I don't even miss Florian that badly. I hope Father holds that council long" she giggled.

They stayed at Sybille's all afternoon. Gilraen and Ëlyel wanted to go home when their babies got tired, but Sybille insisted that everybody stayed; she had four empty rooms, enough for both babies to have a short nap while they could chat in the garden. Arwen insisted on accompanying Gilraen once her daughter set off to one of the guest rooms to lull her son into sleep. She wanted to talk privately.

Gilraen laid Turgalon onto the bed and built a barrier around him from cushions to keep him from rolling off the bed in his sleep and started crooning to him, while the child clutched her index finger.

"Is he a good sleeper?" Arwen asked in a low voice, careful not to stir her little grandson.

"Depends" Gilraen replied softly. "Sometimes he sleeps through the night, other times he wakes up at daybreak."

"And he won't even go back to sleep?" Arwen smiled as she handed a light blanket to Gilraen to cover the baby.

"Well, if I'm lucky, I can get him to fall back a sleep for a few more hours, but only if I take him with me into our bed. Mostly he just decides Mama had enough sleep for the night, don't you?" she smiled and kissed the baby's head.

Arwen almost asked if her bastard of a husband didn't even let her have her own peaceful bed, but decided she preferred not knowing the answer.

"Are you happy, Gilraen?" she asked her daughter instead. "Are you happy with that man?"

"Yes" Gilraen looked up at her as she nodded, eyes sparkling with love and happiness.

"I'm glad."

"No you aren't…" Gilraen shook her head knowingly and gave a sad kiss to her son.

"Yes. Yes, I am. I am not glad that you are happy _with that man_, but I'm glad that you are happy. And if it takes that being with him, so be it."

"Thank you, Mother" her daughter smiled covering her sleeping baby with the blanket. "I think we can leave him now, Sybille said her maid would stay around, so she'll hear if he wakes up."

"Gilraen" Arwen stopped her daughter in front of the door. "Does he treat you well?"

"Yes. Yes, he treats me well. Very well. The best possible way" Gilraen said, tension flashing in her eyes and voice.

"I don't want to accuse him of anything…" Arwen shook her head, to make sure they would not end up in another conflict right after making up. "I just missed you so much. I just have to make sure you are happy and all right."

"I am so" Gilraen gave her a smile. "I missed you too, Mother. I really did… it's like my heart feels so much lighter that you are talking to me again, that you don't despise and condemn me anymore. And I so thank you for understanding me, or at least accepting me. And for not hating Turgalon."

Arwen felt overwhelmed with emotion. She wanted to hug and kiss Gilraen, but she wasn't a little girl anymore… she was her beautiful, grown-up daughter… In the end she just put a hand on Gilraen's arm with a grateful smile and gestured her ahead to return to Sybille and Ëlyel.

They talked for about two hours in the garden - or mostly it was Sybille and Ëlyel talking; Gilraen still preferred the role of the listener in company - before Turgalon and Ëlyel's son woke up and rejoined them. A little reluctant at first, but her grandson finally gave in to be held by Arwen, on the condition that she stood up and rocked him with his face back to her, so he could comfortably observe everything in the garden.

"He always does that to me" Sybille chattered. "Always gets me to walk around with him like that. It's so tiring, but there's just no way denying him, he is so sweet!"

"You are such a charmer, aren't you, my son?" Gilraen shook her head smiling.

"Can't imagine whose blood is that…" Ëlyel exchanged a knowing smile with Gilraen.

All Arwen could do was to exchange _her_ knowing smile with Sybille. There was no way she could ever understand what Gilraen liked about that husband of hers… As if understanding her thoughts, Turgalon kicked in her arms and moaned for his mother. He really was a charmer. Four hours knowing him and Arwen already adored the child.

It was about four in the afternoon when Sybille's maid approached them with a squire at her heels.

"Your Highness, a message for the Lady Gilraen" the maid curtsied and with a bow the squire handed Gilraen a small parchment.

"Thank you" Gilraen nodded and unfolded the note. A chuckle escaped her lips as she read the message with an amused smile, then showed it to Ëlyel who broke into an incredulous chuckle too. "I'm sorry" she looked up to Arwen and Sybille. "I'll show it to you too, if you want. I just thought it's not something you would find amusing…"

"What would I say to it?" Sybille asked twinkling.

"You would just make a face" Gilraen grinned.

"Ah, then it's just the usual" Sybille grinned back. "Mother?" she looked at Arwen with a vicious gleam in her eyes.

"I am guessing that is something your husband wrote and I think I prefer not knowing , but thank you for offering to confide" Arwen inclined her head at Gilraen.

"All right" her daughter gave a soft nod and turned back to Sybille. "So, dearest sister, thank you for the pleasant afternoon."

"You are going?" Arwen was stunned. Did that bastard just _order her daughter home_?

"Of course she is, she is so in love, she's running home at once every time her precious husband gets back from duty" Sybille teased.

"Like you are not whining after _your_ precious husband for an hour every time we speak" Gilraen shot back with a smile and gathered up her son. "We are going home to Father, baby! Yay, we are going home!" she tickled him kissing into the crook of his neck and the child broke into a fit of giggles that was so cute it made Arwen forget about hating his father for a second.

Hard enough it was to admit, but Sybille was right. Gilraen just seemed madly in love with this man and she was happier than ever with him and their child. Ëlyel expressed her pleasure to be her sister-in-law's guest too and decided to go with Gilraen leaving Arwen alone with Sybille.

"Mother, I'm so glad that we talked. That we… I'm just so glad to have seen you. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you so much" Gilraen turned to her then.

"I was so happy to see you" Arwen smiled and gave her a swift hug. "You could come to have an afternoon tea in the palace with me once. Aryana and Bria would be so glad. You could bring our little charmer along" Arwen suggested and pinched her grandson's round little cheek softly.

"I would love to. Thank you!"

"We'll arrange something then" Arwen laughed happily and squeezed Gilraen's hand. It was so good to have her back.

"Say '_Byebye_'" Gilraen cooed to her son and taking his tiny hand in hers imitated waving goodbye.

"Thank you for everything Sybille" Lady Ëlyel hugged with Sybille and curtsied to Arwen. "It was a pleasure to see Your Majesty."

"Is that a custom? That he orders her around like that?" Arwen turned to Sybille once Gilraen and Ëlyel left the house.

Sybille shrugged with a grimace. "Gilraen doesn't mind. And as long as she doesn't, I don't see why we should. She is happy to run home to him. And you know… I can understand her. I miss Florian, I'd be running to him too if he weren't a thousand miles away…" She pouted.

"Oh my darling" Arwen sighed and drew an arm around Sybille. "He'll be home soon. You knew this would happen. Being the husband of a princess comes with duties. He misses you too."

Arwen stayed with Sybille for another hour before she went home to a rather frustrated Aragorn.

"Where in Valar's name have you been, Arwen? I was worried!"

All Arwen could do was throw herself into his arms with a happy laugh and kiss him.

"Well, I can see wherever you have been , it cheered you up" he smiled at her warmly.

"I visited Sybille!" she told him with the widest smile in the world.

"You see, I told you it would cheer you."

"It did. I feel so much better. I feel so light and so carefree and so happy…" she replied with a relieved sigh. "And how was the council? Valar, my arms _ache_!" Arwen shook her head with a chuckle. "Was Eldarion that heavy at this age? I guess he was, I just forgot about it…"

"What?" Aragorn raised an amused eye-brow. "The council was… _long_" he gave a wry smile.

"I know… When was it over, around four, right?"

"After half past three. You can imagine… How is Sybille? And what is it with your aching arms?"

"Sybille is fine" Arwen nodded impatiently. "Oh, guess who I was rocking for a whole hour?"

"Who you were—?"

"Our grandson! He is such a sweet child, you have no idea! I went to see Sybille, but she had guests of course, the maid told me, so we went to the garden and there she was. I mean Gilraen, not Sybille. And it was… oh, it was so good to see her. And we talked and made things up and her son, he is such a sweetheart, Aragorn!" Arwen laughed as words poured from her in excitement.

"Oh Arwen…" he shook his head. "_Finally_." Aragorn gave her a scolding glare and pulled her into his arms.

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Yeah, I hope I managed not to abuse Arwen a lot and also that this lived up to your expectations :)

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link Family Complications here. I guess you can link stuff within fanfiction. net, but I'm not sure, so right now I won't be doing that until I find out if I can do so without violating any guideline or rule.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Scene No 2

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Somehow fate always saves my updates... I got sick, so I canceled everything I had on schedule for the weekend, except for my appointment at the manicure salon, only because the place is a 5 minutes walk from my apartment, just opposite the pharmacy, where I had to go _anyways . _So the point is: I'm just sitting on the coach, drinking hot tea, eating throat pastilles, watching movies and (finally!) having plenty of time to update here. It's been ages since I wrote a Gilraen POV/romantic shit/etc, so here we go and I hope you'll like this.

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**SCENE No. 2**

_- set during Gilraen and Torundir's visit in Maeregard (Family Complications Chapter 26 - Lord of Maeregard) -_

The sun almost set, another hour and they'd finally arrive. The stinging pain in her thighs was dangerously closing to an unbearable level… Goodness, she was not fit for this, three hours of hard gallop was not something she was physically designed for, no matter how many hours she spent practicing horse riding, or how comfortable Zephyr's gallop was supposed to be. Well, it actually had been, on the first day. Now, traveling on horseback for the third day without much rest, Zephyr's gallop was a torture. They offered to stop for her sake every hour… She was not going to have them delay only because of a pair of stinging legs, though. She could do this.

"Keeping up?" Torundir slowed back to ride with her.

"Yes…" Gilraen replied with a tired smile.

"Just a little more to go and we'll turn off the road. From there, it's a good half an hour in light trot" he assured her and with a knee weakening smiled spurred Thunder ahead.

When they trotted through the gate of Maeregard, Gilraen already looked back with a smile on all the times in the past three hours when she thought she would not live to see the fortress. Stable boys hurried up to them once they halted in the large circle yard, ready to take their horses, welcoming their lords. Torundir swung off from his stallion and with a half happy, half proud smile lifted Gilraen from the saddle.

"Well, well, milday, this was not something many women could do after you" Lord Turgon gave her an approving grin as he dismounted.

"Also not something I thought I could do, my lord" Gilraen shook her head laughing.

"Always underestimating yourself…" Torundir glared at her and gave her a fond squeeze before his father gestured them ahead into the keep.

"MARION" Lord Turgon roared once they stepped into the entrance hall. "We want dinner, lassie!" he grinned cheerfully at the middle aged kitchen woman ran up to them.

"I know, m'lord, just another hour to wait, the veal is already roastin'…"

"Another hour?! My darling daughter-in-law must be starving here, and that is all the hospitality we can provide?" he grumbled and waved off the woman. "Are you hungry, milady? Apologies for the delay."

"That's fine, my lord…" Gilraen shook her head with a smile. She had far more urgent needs than hunger. "I was wondering… could I go and wash, and change into some clean cloths while we wait for the dinner?"

"Of course, of course!" Lord Turgon shouted for another serving woman and ordered her to take Gilraen to her room.

"Which is where, exactly?" Torundir raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you two would get the southern tower, will that suffice?" his father grinned.

"Perfectly" Torundir smiled. "I was starting to fear you would want to put her in the guest wing…"

"Ah, but you know I would not be able to sleep at night knowing that my son has to _walk fifty long yards_ every night to visit his wife" Lord Turgon gave him an ironic twinkle and they both laughed.

"Go, sweetheart, we'll send for you when the food's ready" Torundir told her.

Gilraen left with the maids to climb the hundred stairs leading to their southern tower quarters, an enormous round parlor, a dressing chamber with marble basins and a bedroom with a king sized, and also round bed. Her travelling chest was already stood into the dressing room and the maid accompanying her started unloading it at once. She was a nice girl, a few years older than Gilraen, and she kept chatting all the while she set up the paravan and brought warm water for her to wash. She told her how excited they all were to finally see _'The Lord Torundir's Lady Wife' _and how happy they are to see them together and how beautiful they look together.

It took Gilraen half an hour to wash and change and by the end of the thirty minutes, she wanted to hug the girl and spill her tears of gratitude on her shoulders for not taking her for _'The Lord Torundir's _Whore_' _rather than _'Lady Wife'_ like so many people back in the capital did, including her entire family. Soon an elderly woman arrived, presumably the housekeeper of her father-in-law, and informed Gilraen with a kind smile that her lord husband and his father were waiting for her to join them at the dinner table.

Dinner with Lord Turgon was a merry, and also very lengthy thing. It was around midnight when they finally ascended to the southern tower to retire, though actually it was only Torundir ascending, and carrying her in his arms before _she would trip from tiredness and fall down the bloody stairs_.

"My sweetest" he stroked her cheeks with his knuckles once he laid her onto the bed. "You are exhausted."

"Oh… yeah…" Gilraen muttered sleepily. "But I'm so glad we are finally here."

"You'll like it here" Torundir promised her with a smile and bent down to kiss her. "Are you very tired? I shouldn't want anything from you now, right?" he chuckled and sat up.

"No" Gilraen shook her head and pulled him back down. "You should…" she reached up to resume their kiss, she would never be tired enough for _this_. "Especially because I'll have such muscle strain that I won't be able to open my legs by tomorrow" she added with a grin and Torundir laughed so hard as he buried his face into her neck, she thought he was going to choke.

"Oh, Gilraen…" he shook his head chuckling. "But don't you have trust in me, sweet angle, that I'll find a way to sort out such problem?" he whispered into her ears in a husky voice and started peeling off her dress, fondling her body and in ten minutes he was making the sweetest love there was in the world to her.

"Gilraen" a deep tender voice called at her. "Wake up, my sweet."

"What?" she moaned completely unconscious of time and place.

"Get up, I want to take you somewhere."

"Torundir… goodness, it's dark" Gilraen muttered as she opened her eyes. "We haven't slept through four whole hours…"

"_Come on!_" he pulled her up with a glare. "Get up and follow me."

He pulled her with him out into the parlor, then out onto the hallway leading the way to a spiral stair case.

"Oh no, I can't believe you are doing this to me…" Gilraen sighed as they started up the stairs.

"Trust me, it'll be worth it." Was all her husband replied as he pulled her on.

The steps started shrinking after ten minutes of climbing, the path grew narrower, and Gilraen hoped with all her sleepy heart that this would mean the end of the stairs, sooner rather than later. And indeed, shortly they came upon a narrow door and Torundir led her out onto a small battlement that encircled the slim tower they climbed up. Cool, salty breeze caught her golden locks at once and tangled them to the rhythm of the crashing waves.

"Come, the sun is just rising" he told her and they walked around to the other side of the battlement.

Gilraen felt her mouth open in amazement at the mesmerizing sight unfolding in front of her. The sea burst upon her view, with the rising sun coloring its never ending surface a myriad shades of yellow and orange, while closer to the shore sapphire green waves were breaking against the gray rocks of the Bay of Belfalas. On the shore she could make out the tiny silhouettes of the early rising fishermen already preparing their boats and nets for the many catches of the day and, over the water, the seagulls were waiting for the first treat of the morning as they browsed the orange waves for prey amidst their squawks of freedom.

"The sea…" she whispered completely touched. "You took me to see the sea…"

"You said you had never seen the sea. This is a dawn pretty enough to be the first time you do" she heard Torundir say.

"It's not pretty. It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen… it is amazing…" Gilraen muttered lost in the sight. She just stared at the endless freedom in front of her, listened to the sounds of the waking seaside, inhaled the scent of salt, felt the wet breeze on her face, in her hair. "Thank you" she said as she slowly turned around to face her husband. "Thank you for waking me up, for bringing me here, thank you…" she threw herself into Torundir's arms and pulling his face to hers kissed him, pouring all her heart, all the happiness she felt that moment into their kiss.

"Let's get back, it's quite cold yet" Torundir drew an arm around her once they broke apart.

"Please, let's stay a little longer" Gilraen leaned against him as they watched the sun rise.

"Oh, really now, my sweet, I thought you hated me for waking you" he grinned.

"Oh, really now, my lord, just stop pulling my leg and let's stay a little longer" Gilraen laughed and nuzzled against him.

"Can we go _down_ to the sea? Right to the sea shore?" Gilraen asked Torundir once they were lying on their round bed naked again, one hour after the sunrise they watched from the tower.

"We'll go, and even _swim_ in the sea. Tomorrow. Once you got some rest" the man replied. "By the way, how are the people? Are they nice to you?" he asked with an edge of threat in his voice. Gilraen loved how his voice got that edge of threat every time they talked about the possibility of her getting hurt physically, verbally or any other way.

"Everybody is so nice. Maybe it's only because they don't know who I am, but still, it really feels good that they are so nice to me" she replied.

"Some do. Know that you are the King's daughter, I mean. Leanor, that old woman, who used to be my sister's governess, for instance. The one we sent for you before dinner. And the captain of the guard too, and the servants that came with us… They don't really care though. They have never seen the King or the Queen, to them you'll only ever be my wife" Torundir mused.

"I only ever want to be your wife to everybody" Gilraen said. These people wanted her, these people gave her a chance without even knowing her; Lord Turgon, this Leanor, the maid from yesterday evening. Her family knew her and denied her a chance like that… Maybe they were right. Maybe that was what she deserved; being cast out, being hurt, being humiliated… As if sensing her thoughts, Torundir hugged her to himself.

"And I only ever want my wife to be treated well and get all the happiness she deserves."

Gilraen spent half the day sleeping after Torundir went off with his father to attend some family business. Their round bed was so comfortable and the sound of waves and the fresh sea breeze coming through windows rocked her to the most peaceful sleep she had in weeks.

"The Lord Torundir rode out with Lord Turgon an hour ago, my lady, they went to see the shipbuilders" the old woman Leanor told her once she woke up. It turned out '_an hour ago_' was shortly before midday. Gilraen apologized for sleeping so late and asked where she could have some breakfast, or lunch, it actually was. "There's no need to worry about that, my lady" the old woman shook her head laughing. "It's a wonder you aren't sleeping for a whole week after such a tiring journey. I would suggest that you have some lunch here, after that we'll show you the bath halls and you can have a bath, if you wish to."

And thus an hour later Gilraen was sitting in a giant marble tub in the great bath halls of Maeregard. The maid and Leanor coming with her suggested that she tried the pools too, but that was just not something appealing to try all alone, without Torundir. The bath they prepared for her was exquisite enough; scented bath salts, lavender oil and three cups of red wine were added to the hot water to wash her clean, ease the stiffness in her muscles and soften her skin.

"This was something we learned from the Lady Isariel" Leanor told her. "That red wine is good for the skin. And you have such a beautiful skin, my lady, it needs treatment worthy of it."

"Who is the Lady Isariel?" Gilraen asked as she washed her arms with a real sea sponge. It felt rougher than the sandsilk they used in the Citadel, but she just loved the unusual texture and efficiency of the sponge.

"She was Lord Turgon's last wife" the old woman smiled and poured more hot water into the tub.

"Oh…" Gilraen nodded. "What happened to her?" she asked Leanor.

"Well, Lord Turgon threw her out" the old woman held back a chuckle and Gilraen stared at her bewildered. "Just as I say it, my lady. He had us pack her things into a cart, dragged her out into the yard and sent her back to her father. And a month later he sent the annulment charter after her too. We never saw the Lady Isariel again."

"But what happened?" Gilraen stared at the woman in utter shock.

"You know, my lady, the Lord Turgon has a chamber with all his important papers and books and accounts, nobody is allowed to set foot in there except for his son and daughter, his chancellor and me when the room needs cleaning. But somehow the Lady Isariel got in there, we never found out how. And she found the painting of the Lady Narlien. She was raging, she demanded that the poor grooms remove it from the wall at once and burn it. One of them ran to find the lord so he would stop her, they could not refuse to obey their lady, you see, but burning the picture was unthinkable. When Lord Turgon arrived the Lady Isariel attacked him and started shouting about how he dared to keep the painting of another woman in his room…" Leanor sighed. "You can imagine the lord's wrath, my lady. We have never seen him like that. He was roaring his throat raw, swearing at Lady Isariel, dragging her along the hallways throwing her things out onto the corridor, shouting for her to get out of his sight and never set foot under his roof again…"

"And all that because she wanted to burn a painting?"

"It was not _any_ painting she wanted to burn. She wanted to burn the painting of the Lady Narlien."

"And the Lady Narlien is…?" Gilraen trailed off waiting for her sentence to be finished.

"She was the wife of Lord Turgon" Leanor smiled at her kindly.

"Just like the Lady Isariel, no?" Gilraen just couldn't understand. This woman had gone way too far, no question, but who would not be upset to find the picture of a previous wife in her husband's chamber. And Lord Turgon had a number of wives, according to Torundir.

"No, my lady" Leanor shook her head sadly. "Lady Isariel was a wife of the lord, indeed, but Lady Narlien was _the_ wife of Lord Turgon. The mother of the Lord Torundir."

Gilraen opened and closed her mouth in understanding.

"She was such a darling, lively creature, we so loved her" the old woman sighed with a nostalgic smile as she started preparing the towels for Gilraen. "Is the water not getting cold, my lady?" she asked her kindly.

It was, so Gilraen climbed out of the tub and set down to dry herself in the soft towels, before she ascended the southern tower again to dress and wait for the sea smelling breeze coming through the windows to blow her hair dry. Just an hour later Torundir and Lord Turgon got back from the shipbuilders and offered to show Gilraen around the keep. They wandered along the hallways, visited the library, the kitchens, the inner yard, the bath halls again, some council room, the great hall, parlors and all along Lord Turgon entertained them with childhood stories of Torundir and his sister. During supper Torundir suggested that she accompanied them the next day when they'd ride out to see the villages and crops, and Gilraen agreed, more than happy not to be left behind.

And it was such a beautiful day. Gilraen never thought it would feel good to be mounted on Zephyr so soon after riding her whole body stiff, but the filly's great spirit somehow grew on Gilraen too as her horse pranced around and flirted with Thunder. At first they thought the mare was just trying to annoy the hell out of the large stallion, but at their first halt, the moment they dismounted Thunder made an unmistakable attempt to relieve his libido on Zephyr; something Lord Turgon was laughing at for hours.

In one village they came upon a wedding reception, with the bride and groom just getting through an arch of blooming tree branches to mark their new life. Ten family members ran up to Lord Turgon the moment they saw them riding past to beg him to halt for a moment and join them for a goblet of wine; it was a peasant superstition of the area that having the lord on the wedding reception means a long and happy marriage for the couple, Torundir told Gilraen. Lord Turgon agreed and told the family about his own son's recent marriage which brought up another peasant superstition; the lady attending the reception foreshadowed many healthy children for the bride. She was a nice girl, the bride, mouse brown haired, fawn eyed, freckled maid, just the same age as Gilraen, it turned out. Gilraen even gave her a silver pin from her hair, so the girl would have something borrowed too - to match her blue ribbons, new dress and old wedding ring -, which she promised to keep and tell her grandchildren of.

"Aw, I love weddings" Lord Turgon mused watching his dancing folk over a large mug of light summerwine. "Your mother loved weddings too…" he added with a strange twinkle, more to himself than to his son.

"Because she loved to listen to you going on about how she was ten times prettier than every bride" Torundir chuckled.

"She always was so" his father nodded not taking his eyes off the wine. "We went to so many weddings" he said to Gilraen. "My daughter loved weddings too, and Torundir loved to chase after little girls during receptions as well" he added with a grin and Gilraen laughed.

"That happened only once…" Torundir shook his head. "Or twice… or maybe..."

"A lot of times" Gilraen grinned at her husband, who just chuckled.

"The elder Forlan brother married that girl you chased around on Beregond's wedding" Lord Turgon mused. "And there was some little girl on Malberen's wedding too…"

"We attended Malberen's wedding?" Torundir raised an eye-brow.

"Sure we did. You were young though, five years old at best… no wonder you don't remember."

"You were friends with Malberen? I thought you didn't like him. And _he_ definitely doesn't like _me_" Torundir wondered.

"That is because he trusted his son to your training and it resulted in you planting your _rebellious_ ideas in the poor lad's head" Lord Turgon shook with mocking laughter. "I was never really friends with him, but our general dislike for each other only runs back to… the time a certain matter arose about which we formed rather reverse opinions. And neither of us managed to accept the other's view on the matter. You know what I'm talking about…" he gave Torundir a suggestive look. "And let's not forget that marginal fact that your mother was _twenty_ times prettier than the bride on Malberen's wedding" he added with a smirk.

"And the even more marginal fact that you got as drunk as to tell this to him?" Torundir suggested with a grin.

"No, never" Lord Turgon laughed. "But it might have come to his ear from another guest or so."

"Was this his wedding to the Lady Doriel?" Gilraen asked him, she never thought Florian's mother was any homely.

"That was the one. He only married once, to Doriel, he just waited long, was in his early thirties, I think." Turgon nodded. "It was a big wedding, hundreds of guests, fine food, finer wine… they had their gold back then too, Malberen and his family. It was the second biggest wedding we ever attended… It was a shame I missed _your_ wedding" he glared at Gilraen and Torundir then.

"We didn't have a big wedding with fine food and finer wine, though" Torundir twinkled at him.

"But it was lovely" Gilraen smiled. "At least I loved it."

Lord Turgon gave her a fond smile. "I'm sure I would have loved it too. Your mother would have loved it too…" he murmured addressing Torundir. "I remember the last wedding we attended together… She laughed so much…"

"Thanks to your constant reminders that she was _fifty_ times lovelier than the bride, and a hundred times younger too, or how it went?" Torundir shook his head with a chuckle.

"That was something _she _added" Lord Turgon laughed. "I am innocent of that part. I only said… ah, I don't want to offend your darling wife."

Gilraen blinked. "Why would you offend me, my lord?"

"The last wedding our family attended together was the one of your parents'" Torundir told her.

"Oh…" Gilraen nodded. Then it came down to her, the hundred times younger than the bride part. If only she didn't miss them so much, she would surely be laughing now… For a moment sadness flooded her heart. But it was only a moment. She could control it now, it was getting easier. Slowly, very slowly, but it was getting easier. She felt Torundir's hand on her back in mute support and sympathy. "It would be terrible hypocrisy if I felt offended by that, after having offended them so recently myself, my lord" she finally said to Turgon with a small smile.

"You, Lady Gilraen, are the finest daughter-in-law I could have ever wished for" the man declared at that and drowning his wine, stood up. "Time to ride on, it is."

Next morning Gilraen woke to find Torundir sleeping next to her, rather than gone on some business with his father. She curled up to him with a happy smile and prepared to fall back asleep when she felt his arms tightened around her.

"We'll go to down to the shore tonight, hmm?" he murmured into her ear.

"And swim in the sea?" Gilraen smiled.

"That too. Beside other things…" Torundir smirked and kissed her brow.

In the end they rode out to the shore late in the afternoon and found a peaceful, stony-sandy corner where they left their horses, and most of their cloths, before diving into the sapphire waves. Gilraen found that swimming in the sea was a ridiculous plan, all they actually did was cuddling in the chest deep water, kissing, talking, flirting and splashing water at each other like three-year-old children. And that was not even the only habit they took up from three-year-olds; Gilraen had never been thrown into the water so many times before, not even as a child. She had no idea what her husband enjoyed in her falling into the salty foams squalling and laughing, and even less idea what_ she_ enjoyed in getting thrown every ten minutes, but since they both liked it well enough, the reasons did not really matter. The sun was already setting by the time they got out of the sea to dry themselves and eat the supper they brought along in the saddlebags.

Torundir sat leaning against a large rock, while Gilraen lay lazily in his lap, stroking his outer thigh.

"I missed this. Just sitting around, talking, getting some time together. All the stuff we used to do instead of training you with the bow…" her husband said wondering.

"I missed it too. And all the carefreeness of those times. Oh wait, we never had carefree times…" Gilraen replied and the both laughed.

"But now we do" Torundir leaned in with a wicked grin and kissed her. "You taste salt."

"I wonder if that's got anything to do with someone throwing me into the water every ten minutes" Gilraen twinkled with a smile.

"I wonder too. The moon is coming up. Do you want to go back? We could just stay, it's not cold… We could sleep here" Torundir messed with her hair as he spoke.

"We could. It'd be fun, I have never slept on the seashore. I actually never slept anywhere else than in bed."

"And have you ever lain with a man on the seashore?" Torundir grinned at her.

Gilraen erupted in giggles. "I know, I know... you are only asking that because you were _not_ present every single time I lay with a man in any place…"

"Oh wait…" they said those two words at the same time and burst out laughing again.

Torundir pulled her face to his and captured her lips in a heated kiss. His hands ran down her torso fondling her waist, massaging the curves of her hips, longing fingers digging into the flesh of her buttocks as they slid under her soft shift finding their way to the warm crook of her thighs craving to be touched. All the while Gilraen's hands worked to get rid of his shirt and caress his bare back while she never stopped kissing him for a second as her lips ventured along the column of his neck, returning to his mouth and restarting their route every time she pulled away for a lungful of air. She felt him shoving her undershift up to her waist and struggling to tug off his breaches with the other hand, while she moved her legs on either side of his waist and her arms around his neck, ready to be pulled down onto his groin. His hands settled on both sides of her hips and with a last hungry kiss their bodies became one.

Gilraen had no idea how much time passed while they made love on the seashore, tangled in each other's limbs, drowning in the other's intoxicating scent. She just found herself lying sprawled out on the ground under Torundir, her legs still locked around his hips as she slowly regained her senses. Goodness, she loved this man. All she could do was smile feeling his hot breath tickling her neck, red of the shower of his kisses as he panted into her ears.

"You darling angel" he laughed at her once he lifted his head to kiss her cheeks and rolled off of her. "I adore you."

Gilraen curled up against him and tugged her skirt back down. "I adore you too. You don't know how much…" she muttered into his chest with a smile.

"I know exactly well how much" Torundir said in a strange voice.

"Well how much?" she looked up at him curiously.

"Let's not go into this right now. I'm glad to see you happy, I don't want to talk about anything that would make you sad."

Gilraen understood and nodded. No, she didn't want to go into this now either. She just wanted to be happy in his arms and not think about the price of this happiness.

"So we'll sleep here? I hope it's not high tide" she smiled at him and pressed her lips against his chest.

Torundir burst out laughing. "No, my sweet, it's not, and even if it was, we would wake up when the water reaches our feet and walk away before we'd drawn, you know."

"I know" Gilraen laughed and he stroked her cheeks.

They did sleep on the shore. And not just once. The following week they went twice more to the seashore to have supper, to swim, to sleep and to act like three-year-olds. Other nights they would just go to the bath halls, have dinner with Lord Turgon and make love in their round bed. Staying at Maeregard was probably the most happy and most carefree fortnight of Gilraen's life.

"We'll have to go back to Minas Tirith soon" Torundir told her one night.

"I know" Gilraen replied drawing circles on the taut muscles of his bare chest.

"I would stay longer" he went on. "I really don't like to take you back there, so you'll be exposed to more talking behind your back and more coldness from your family…"

Barahin's birthday celebration flashed into Gilraen's memory like a lightning bolt, and her sister's face, spitting words like venom at her, of how glad they were to be rid of her… She shook the thought out of her head and nuzzled against her husband.

"It doesn't matter. You are my family now…" she said and reached up to kiss him before she rested her head on his shoulder, and Torundir kissed the top of her head as he laid one hand on her forearm, while the other kept on caressing her stomach idly.

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Well that was it, please tell me in a review if you liked this, or if you weren't interested in more insight on Torundir's background, because that's fine too, and I'll be happy to read your review anyways. Thanks for reading!

Response to Isotta88's review (I'll try to be short): I'm really glad I'm forgiven and even more glad that you liked the chapter. What did I want to say? Oh, yeah, about the spicy food. It happened a couple times that tourists came to my country and all they could do was bitch about our food, how spicy, how greasy how unhealthy it is, when they were served some traditional dishes (I'm not generalizing, people are usually really nice and love to try out everything, these were exceptions). And I think that's just rude and somehow this experience got included in poor Arwen's character. I've already thought about how I could solve this confrontation you suggested and I'll definitely try and give it a go... We'll see. :) As for grammar and spelling, I'm not a native speaker either and I make so many mistakes myself, so there's really no need to worry about anything like that :))

And updates... I don't want to make any promises, because anything can come up and writing chapters is far more time consuming than just editing them, so these chapters need a lot more time to be readied than the Family Complications ones did. Still, I hope to keep up this pace, that I'll update every weekend.


	3. Scene No 3

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Here is the new chapter, update a little troublesome as always, but I'm starting to get used to it, haha. Hot tea, chocolate and vodka always help. No, actually none of those things ever helped with an update, but who knows the future... Okay, enough of my bullshit. Here's the chapter and I really hope you'll like it :)

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**SCENE No. 3**

_- set on the day Gilraen left the Citadel (starting right after Family Complictions Chapter 18 - The End, including and ending after Chapter 19 - Guard of the Citadel)_ _-_

Of course the King will not see him. In the King's place, he would not see himself either. But in the King's place he would have never thrown out his own daughter or called her a whore…

Torundir left the guards without a word and headed home to see if Gilraen arrived. He had sent Stanwick and Donland to fetch her and if everything was all right, she had probably arrived at his house by this time. He swung up into the saddle and jammed his heels into Thunder's side. He tried to gather his thoughts while he was riding home, actually he had been trying to gather his bloody damn thoughts ever since he received Gilraen's letter…

He was just about to walk up to the Citadel to talk with the King, as he had agreed with Gilraen the previous night, to tell him that he wanted to marry his daughter when this woman ran up to him, utterly confused and out of breath.

"My lord, I beg your pardon, my lady sent me to find you and deliver this message" she panted.

Torundir raised an eyebrow, but before he could have asked anything the woman went on.

"My lord, please take the letter. I don't know what it is, but it must be very urgent and very important… Something is very wrong… My lady asks you to send word back to her with me, my lord" she handed him a piece of paper with a curtsy and Torundir unfolded it. It didn't take a tenth of a second to recognize Gilraen's small round letters, unusually crooked and messy.

"Fuck…" he muttered as he read the letter. This was some really deep shit... Well, what did he except? It would have been a miracle if they got away with an affair that lasted three months.

He read the letter again. He felt like exploding with anger, desperation, helplessness and guilt. A part of him wanted to go to the Citadel and tear every single piece of blond hair out of Sybille's empty, self-conceited head. Was _that_ the kind of family solidarity she had been taught? To leave her own sister alone in trouble, who did everything and more to help with all her petty damn problems? Another part of him wanted to go to the Citadel and teach that pointed eared cow to look on what she was turning her other daughters into, or at least peek into a goddamn mirror before she dares to call Gilraen, _his_ Gilraen a whore. The third part of him wanted to go to the Citadel to find Gilraen, hold her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right. And the fourth and greatest part of him wanted to talk to the King…

"Tell her…" Torundir turned to the handmaid running a hand over his head in frustration. Fucking hell, what to tell her? Well, there wasn't a wide range of options to choose from at this point. "Tell her to pack her things. I'll send two men to collect her and everything she wants to take along. I'll meet her when I get home."

"M-my lord?" the woman stammered bewildered. "You don't mean that—?"

"Just go and tell her what I said, damn it!" he rounded on the maid who fled back to the Citadel at once.

Torundir took a deep breath and rode home. He ordered everybody into the hall to give the instructions.

"You two will go to the Citadel at once" he turned to Stanwick and Donland. "Use the back way, which leads to the servants' entrance of the palace, the guards won't let you in anywhere else. There, you'll go and find the Princess Gilraen's chambers, she'll have packed her things, all you'll need to do is get them back here and no, you'll not ask any bloody fucking question neither now, nor in the Citadel and especially not from her" he raised his voice when he saw Stanwick opening his mouth to say something. "She'll come with you here and you" he turned to Pilares and the serving girls. "You will receive her and you will be fucking _kind_ to her, is that _understood_?" he glared at Pilares who had one thing written over her face clearly, that she gravely disliked what she heard.

"My lord if I may—" the housekeeper started, skeptical eyebrows raised high, but Torundir cut her across at once.

"You may not."

"Even if I may not, my lord, what on good earth would make you bring the _Princess Gilraen_ to _this house_ and to what ends?" Pilares gave him a cheeky, disapproving glare.

That was all for Torundir. "I will _marry_ the Princess Gilraen and she will _live_ in this house and if you dare say or do anything rude when she gets here, that'll be the last fucking thing you did in my service, did I make myself clear?!" he rounded on the woman losing all self-control.

Pilares was an old hand though, she had heard this sentence from Torundir at least a hundred times already, and probably a couple hundred times from his father too; she had no trouble handling her lords' outbursts. She even looked bored as she nodded without blenching. "You did, my lord."

Torundir left them without another word and went to the Citadel gate to spend one and a half fruitless hour trying to convince the guards to let him speak with the King, to let him explain, to let him… tell the King how sorry they were. Not very surprisingly, nobody seemed any likely to try and convince the King to receive him. _Why_, in goodness' name, hadn't he talked to the King in the past months? He should have told him that he loved Gilraen ages ago. Maybe then, the King would have given his consent. But what was he expecting now, after they double crossed him...? Even the idea was ridiculous.

And now here he was, riding home, hoping that at least Gilraen arrived without more trouble. Stanwick and Donland were standing in the front yard looking puzzled and aghast when he arrived. Donland took his horse and told him that they got both the Princess Gilraen and her belongings, she was waiting for him inside. In the entrance hall he found the two maids standing on tiptop craning their necks to get a better view of the parlor through its half closed door. They dropped their heads the moment they heard him approach and curtsied with their eyes falling, not daring to meet his gaze.

Torundir walked past without even looking at them and opened the parlor door to find Gilraen sitting in an armchair, staring blankly at the opposite wall.

"Gilraen" he called at her.

She lifted her head and tears ran over her eyes as she leapt up to throw herself into his arms.

"Shhhhhh, darling. I'm here" he locked her into his arms and stroked her back as she sobbed into his chest.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" she cried clutching his jerkin. "It was… it was my fault… I botched it… I told her… but… you don't know what things she said… about you… I couldn't stand it… I'm sorry…"

"Shh. It's not your fault. It's not your fault, sweetheart" Torundir shook his head as he rocked her. "Come on" he pulled her back to the armchair, sat her down and tilted up her chin. "What happened?" he asked gently, knowing full well that Pilares and both maids were standing right outside the door listening to every word they would say. He didn't care… All he cared about was his sweet, heartbroken Gilraen.

"It was horrible" she muttered trying to pull herself together. "I wanted to tell my mother first, but thinking back, it was a bad idea, I should have told Father first, I so messed it up, already in the beginning—"

"It was _not_ your fault" Torundir told her sternly.

"Well, whatever… She said I was an idiot, because you were just trying to take advantage of me and that even if I did marry you, you would get bored with me in a month and you would hate me and beat me. So I would be crawling on their doorstep to beg to be taken back in shame and humiliation…"

Torundir felt his blood boiling. "I sincerely hope you did not believe a word of that fucking crap!"

"I did not!" Gilraen glared at him with puffed, red eyes, overrunning with tears again.

"Sorry, I'm sorry… Forgive me" Torundir shook his head cursing himself for not being able to control his damned temper. "Gilraen, please, I didn't mean to hurt you" he looked at her taking her small hands in his.

"I know…" she sniffed and messed with his fingers nervously. "So… I just told her to shut up and leave you alone, because you are not like that and we got carried away and the next thing I knew was that I had told her about us… And then… just all hell broke loose. I thought Eldarion was going to throttle me, he was so mad, I have never seen him like that… And my father too, goodness, he was so angry…" Gilraen choked on her tears. "And he was right, I know he was right, but… I was just standing there and everybody, you know, every single member of my family were shouting about what a whore I am…" Gilraen could go on and ducked forward to sob in his arms.

"And then…" she took a deep breath to calm herself. "My father was telling me that I could not be your whore and a princess too and I'll lose something either case. And I said that then I choose you. And he told me to get out… And Sybille… she was sitting there all along, listening to him and she didn't say a word. She didn't say anything at all…! She just sat there and watched as my mother slapped me up, as my father threw me out…"

"Your mother HIT YOU?!" Torundir snapped not believing his ears. He wanted to curse the queen with every word he knew, but he couldn't. Not here, not now, not in front of Gilraen, who just gave up that thrice damned mother of hers for his sake.

"She was angry" Gilraen shrugged sniffing. "And Sybille… I mean I deserved it, I deserved being hit, being humiliated, being treated like scum, because that's what I am, stupid naive scum whore" Gilraen sobbed. "But I would not have let them do even half of this to her in a reverse situation... She is my _twin_… How could she…?"

Torundir was going mad with anger and he pulled Gilraen into his arms. "Shhh, sweetheart, you are no scum, or whore. You are not stupid or naive or anything like that… Shhh, my love, don't cry. Or cry. That helps. I'm here. Just cry if you need to."

And she cried. She spilled her hot salty tears of humiliation, pain, sorrow, betrayal and loss on his shoulders while he just sat there unable to help her. All he could do was hold her and keep telling her that she would be all right. The worst part was knowing that all this pain she had to endure was his fault. No, not just his, the queen's, Sybille's and the Prince's too, treating Gilraen so cruelly. But mostly his, falling in love with her and letting her fall for him… and above all, being such a selfish bastard that he was unable to let go of his feelings for her.

It took half an hour to pull Gilraen together. Torundir escorted her upstairs to the guest room, where the maids put her traveling chest, and told her to start unpacking, so it would occupy her, while he would go and arrange a few things.

Pilares was standing in the hall wearing her look of disapproval when he descended.

"Will the Princess be staying for dinner, my lord?" the old woman asked with a grimace.

Torundir gaped at her. This was too much. This old bat knew no bounds… He could not even think of any threat or insult to say to her. All that could escape his lips was an incredulous chuckle. "Yes. She will" he said to Pilares shaking his head and left for the sixth level.

They needed to get this done as soon as possible, before the King would have a mind to make up some decree prohibiting the holy men to wed his daughter to anybody. Even like this, they weren't impressed with the idea, but some threats, some gold and mentioning his rank did the trick, as always. Torundir told the holy man they'd be back in an hour to be wedded and went home to fetch Gilraen.

She was so stunned at the sudden twist of the day she even broke into a smile. While she got dressed, Torundir told Pilares and the maids to prepare them some appropriate dinner, after all this thrice damned day would be their wedding day… Finally Gilraen arrived wearing a silver-yellow dress that floated around her waist like sunshine. For a moment all Torundir could do was stand there and behold this beauty who would soon be his wife.

"You are beautiful" he smiled at her. "Come." And taking her hand, he led her out of the house.

Getting married was quicker and merrier than he ever thought it would be. All the while the holy men spoke Gilraen wore an incredulous smile on her sweet face and when she turned to face him and said the oath that would bind them together for a lifetime, Torundir knew that both of them forgot everything for that moment and all they cared about was their love for each other. The holy man declared them man and wife and he locked Gilraen in his arms for the first as her husband. He was the happiest man in the world to see no regret or second thoughts in the pair of sapphire eyes leering up at him warm with love and affection.

When they got back, Pilares and the maids were just setting the dining table, the housekeeper glanced up without a word and gave Torundir a scolding _You are mental to have gone through with this_ look. He did not make a comment, just waved at the women to leave them alone. Gilraen gave an uncertain smile at the dishes and turned to him.

"This is so lovely, I'm just not sure I'm very hungry…"

"When was the last time you ate?" he raised a suspicious eyebrow at her.

"I don't know… yesterday lunch, I think" she replied sitting down.

"That's what I would have guessed" he glared at her. "You need to eat something."

They ate in silence for a while. Torundir watched Gilraen and wondered what he should say to her. What could he say to her after she gave up everything for him? He didn't know if Gilraen blamed him or herself. Probably not her family, that was not like her, though blaming him was not like Gilraen either; especially not after she chose him. How thankful he was for that…! He wanted to assure her that in a reverse situation he would have gone up against his father too, and chosen _her_ over his family… But he didn't want her to think he was understating her decision. He could see exactly well how badly she took losing her family.

In the end it was her to speak first.

"Have you ever thought of a stupider and more unlikely way for us to get discovered?" she asked him wondering.

"Stupider and more unlikely than having the same bleeding singers for your birthday celebration we met a month ago? I just don't think there's anything more unlikely than that…"

"I know!" Gilraen burst out laughing. Torundir had no idea what to make of her laughter. "Goodness, this is so crazy! I mean I actually spent a night away from home and nothing! I practically ran off from my own farewell feast to your house and nothing! But we have an innocent birthday celebration and the next thing I know is being thrown out from home…!" Gilraen let out a crazed chuckle and poured herself wine.

"You know, I'll burn in seventh hell for this, but a part of me is glad that we got over with the whole damn getting discovered thing…" Torundir confessed her concentrating hard not to miss a single shard of her reaction.

"Well…" Gilraen fall silent for a moment as she studied his face. It was now that he could see how deep the hurt of losing her family ran in her eyes and soul, and yet there was something else there, something in those blue eyes he could not define. Gilraen raised her wine cup to toast him. "We'll burn together, my lord husband."

Torundir broke into an incredulous chuckle and they drank. "Come here" he said to Gilraen and she walked over to him sinking into his lap with a tired smile as he embraced her. "Gilraen, I cannot replace your family and I don't want to. But I promise you that I will make you happy. You will not regret choosing me."

Gilraen locked her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulders, to hide her tears, he knew well. "And I promise that I'll be a good wife to you. You will not regret marrying me." She gave him a smile once she lifted her head and Torundir kissed her hoping to put all the love he felt for her into their kiss.

They resumed dinner chatting and Torundir did everything he could to cheer up Gilraen, as much as the circumstances allowed at least. That was when Beregond arrived and all his work to brighten his wife's spirits was demolished by the news he brought. Torundir pressed his lips together and sent Gilraen upstairs deciding that he would get over talking to his friend as fast as possible. He knew what Beregond was going to say, it was the same thing Pilares' eyes said, the same thing the kitchen maids and probably half the city whispered about; that he should have never married Gilraen. And that was something he was not interested to hear.

"Will you tell me what he said?" Gilraen asked once he joined her in his bedchamber. Her eyes were red again.

"Just the usual shit. That we'll get bored with each other and regret the whole thing with time…" he sighed and drowned a cup of wine.

"Do you think we will?" she asked him, barely audible.

"No" Torundir shook his head and pulled her into his arms. "No, we will not" he told her pulling her face to his, claiming her soft red lips. "We will not" he repeated holding her ever tighter, kissing her with ever growing hunger.

"We will not" Gilraen echoed, a small smile forming in the corner of her lips as she let him lower her onto the bed.

"I love you" he breathed against her mouth as he started unlacing her dress.

"We were loud" Gilraen concluded an hour later, lying in his arms, her soft nakedness pressed against his body.

"These are thick doors" Torundir chuckled and kissed her head.

"Do you feel any difference?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you feel that this would have been any better or worse if it had been the first time we go to bed?"

"No" Torundir shook his head. "Do you?"

"No, me neither… Funnily enough…"

"I can't really say I'm following you" Torundir noted, stroking her back.

"I was just wondering if it actually makes any difference whether you are a virgin on your wedding night or not. I mean this was special in one way and when I was with you for the first time, that was special in another way. But both were special and both were just perfect."

"Well the only difference is that if you do things _properly_, the two experiences will occur on the same night…" Torundir shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess…" Gilraen nodded and nuzzled against him.

"Can I ask you some things?" she spoke up after ten minutes of silently caressing each other.

"Anything you want, sweetheart" he replied with a smile.

"Just some practical things…" Gilraen went on. "Like, where will I sleep? As your wife, I mean."

Torundir raised his eyebrows at the question. Gilraen was the sweetest loveliest woman in the world, but still a woman with the typical, and very much unexplainable tendency of women to overthink every question. He did not even understand why this was a question in the first place…

"Here" he told her and drew an arm around her waist.

"Here? With you? In this bed?"

"Yes" Torundir nodded. "Given you don't have any objections…"

"No" Gilraen sounded surprised. "Not at all…" she shook her head with a smile.

"But?" Torundir asked kissing into her golden hair. "Because I could feel the hidden _'but'_" he added with a small smile.

She chuckled and kissed his chest. "I was just wondering, wouldn't it be weird if I slept here when… you know, when… I have my blood…"

Torundir thought about that for a moment. "No, I don't think it would bother me. You are a woman and having your blood comes with that."

"It would bother _me_, though" Gilraen blurted. "To mess this bed while… just…"

"You are being ridiculous" Torundir shook his head. "You are such lovely, such a beautiful woman, Gilraen, everything is so beautiful about you. How can you feel uncomfortable about your own body? Whatever… you can sleep in _that_ room" he pointed at the door on the opposite wall of the bedchamber. "when you have your blood if that makes you feel comfortable. But I tell you, it's pointless, because I can just see myself waking up in the middle of the night and going over to sleep next to you anyways."

Gilraen just laughed. "Thank you. And I also wanted to ask about your servants. What do they make of me just popping up here?"

"Whatever they want to, but I warned them that you are my wife, that is their lady, that is the mistress of this house, which means that I'll throw out anybody without a second thought who is rude or disrespectful to you."

"There's no need to threaten your servants on my account…" Gilraen muttered.

"Ah, believe me, there is!" Torundir snorted rolling his eyes as he remembered the faces Pilares made when he announced that he would marry Gilraen. "Anything else, my sweet?"

"Yes, apparently. My horse is in the Royal Stables and I'm not sure what should be done about that."

"Nothing. That horse has always been a pain in the ass, I'll get you a fine mare."

"Goodness, you _really _don't need to buy me a horse…" Gilraen said uncomfortably.

"Then you'll walk or what?" he raised an eyebrow. "This is none of the big deal you are making it seem" Torundir glared at her and kissed her brow.

"Well then, thank you" Gilraen smiled at him. "And that was all, I don't have any other ridiculous questions" she chuckled and Torundir drew his arms around her laughing.

"I love you and all your ridiculous questions, sweetheart."

"I love you too" she reached up to kiss him.

Torundir just stroked her cheeks and pulled a cover over them. "It's really late, and you should get some rest after such a day" he told her and blew out the candles on the bedside. Gilraen curled up against him and linking their arms together, they prepared to fall asleep.

And this time they would fall asleep together. This time Gilraen was not going anywhere, not even in the morning. This time, and from now on, Gilraen was truly his; his to sleep with, his to wake up next to, his to have breakfast with, his to love. He knew full well that he should be feeling guilty for such thoughts, the price Gilraen had to pay was too great, but the selfish bastard half of his soul couldn't help rejoicing to hold her with the knowledge that he would never have to let go of her again.

"We are married" Gilraen observed after ten minutes of lying in the darkness.

Torundir didn't know whether he should laugh or not at the sudden announcement. "Yes, darling, I was there too" he chuckled.

"Oh, please…" Gilraen shook her head. "It's just so strange… yesterday morning I had no idea that I'd go to bed as a married woman tonight. It was all such a mess… But I want you to know that I'm happy about it. I am not doing this because I have no other choice anymore, I love you and I _am _so happy to be your wife. I just wanted to tell you this" she placed a kiss onto his chest. "Good night" she said then and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Torundir was at loss of words. It was _he_ who had the real honor to have this exceptional, sweet girl in his life. He hugged her to himself as tight as he could and kissed her head. "You have no idea how much you mean to me, my love" he told her and started rocking her as he felt the warm, salty streams of her tears running down his chest.

* * *

I hope it wasn't too sappy. Well, let me know what you think and if you have any ideas what scenes you would like to see, please write me a PM, or include it in your review, so I'll have a chance to consider including it in a one-shot.

Honestly, where do mosquitoes come from? It's like 8 degrees outside, shouldn't mosquitoes still be wherever mosquitoes are during winter? Write me a PM if you know why mosquitoes are attacking me in the beginning of March, haha :D Just joking. Okay, I'll stop rambling.

Update. Next week I won't have any time to write, but we'll have a holiday at the end of the week, so maybe then I can get down to do some writing. So most probably there'll be no update next weekend, but if something comes up and gives me a bunch of unexpected time, anything can happen :) Thanks for reading!


	4. Scene No 4

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Oh my goodness, I am so, so very sorry for this horrible delay with the update. I did say two weeks ago that I might not get to post the following weekend, but still, the fact that I was right just makes me feel so bad. I wanted to update on Tuesday, but I got home so late and the wind froze the hell out of me so I just watched tv and enjoyed the snowfall from _inside. _For the rest of the days I have real excuses, not just laziness, haha :D But enough talking now, here's a new chapter, that I hope you will like and forgive me for not updating. Some pressure this time, because the world is not all sparkling unicorns and big black stallions prancing around the blooming meadow among pink clouds farting rainbow all around...

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**SCENE No. 4**

_- set 3-4 days after Scene No. 3, that is first days of marriage (sort of parallel in time with Family Complications Chapter 21 - A Best Friend) -_

She woke to a paralyzing feeling of loneliness. For a moment she didn't even want to lift her head, or sit up, she just let the endless emptiness flood her heart. She never thought it would be this hard, but it seemed three days were just perfectly enough to get used to waking up to Torundir nuzzling against her. And previously she would always wake to Sybille chatting with her handmaids in the parlor, or to her mother bursting the door onto her and making a fuss for one reason or the other. Oh what she wouldn't give to have her mother burst the door on her once more…

Gilraen sat up with a sigh and looked around. The bed was oddly empty without her husband. And so would the house be, once she gathered her strength to get up and face a whole day without anything to do, without anybody to talk to. The maids would not talk to her, she knew well, they answered if she asked something, so '_the lord_'- that was how Torundir was referred to by all his servants – would not yell at them, but to talk with her for the mere pleasure of talking, that would not happen. She had no idea when her husband would be back, he would have lessons to hold and some other errands to run, that was all he had said last night.

After scrambling out of bed, she dressed and prepared to descend to get some breakfast. She already heard the muffled sound of people talking from the middle of the stairs. Maybe the maids would yet talk to her, they didn't seem to hate her as much as the housekeeper did. As she made her way through the main hall though, the voices proved to be doubtlessly male. Her heart almost leapt out of her chest in joy when she saw Torundir standing in the dining room.

He turned around hearing her enter and spun her around with a happy grin.

"Good morning, my sweet, happy to see me?"

"So happy! I didn't know you'd be back so soon" she replied locking her arms around his neck as she stood on tiptoes to kiss him. Then she realized that Stanwick, Pilares and the older maid, Fali were all in the room watching them, and blushing, took an uncomfortable step backwards. Torundir just laughed and pulled her back into his arms for one last kiss.

"I'm not back yet, just had to drop home for something and thought I'd finally have breakfast" he shook his head with a smile and pulled out a chair for her.

They both sat down to the table and Torundir ordered Pilares to bring them food after telling the woman off for not preparing breakfast for his wife in the first place.

"What was I saying?" Torundir turned back to Stanwick after a few bites of buttered pheasant legs.

"The message to the Lord Beregond, my lord" the man inclined his head.

"No, I finished that" Torundir shook his head. "The charters to the Chancellery. So, if Beregond can tell you what papers they need, find me so I can get them and take them to Caledion. What in seventh hells' name is this census good for? The treasury has the Land Book, they know how much wealth everybody has! Can't imagine who came up with another elven nonsense…"

Gilraen felt her lips press together. It always had to come down to this…

"And if Lord Beregond don't know what papers you need, my lord?"

Torundir rolled his eyes. "In that case, I'll need to find somebody who will be so kind as to enlighten me about the elven way of bloody censoring, because I'm but sure that our old way is out of fashion now. Surely the queen and her people have better ways, even when it comes to census."

Gilraen did her best not to slam her fork onto the table. She didn't seem to succeed because Torundir turned to her with a surprised look.

"The Queen" she started, her voice trembling with tension. "Does not spend her days sitting around trying to come up with new ways to annoy you and the other lords." She knew her cheeks were flushed with anger and concentrated hard to keep her voice as calm as possible; she didn't want a fight. She just wanted him to stop blaming everything on her mother. "She spends her days sitting around drinking her tea, reading her books. She is not trying to undermine and annoy the nobility on purpose only because it entertains her!"

Torundir looked stunned at her words. He waved off Stanwick never taking his narrowing eyes off of Gilraen. It seemed none of the seven heavens will save her from a fight… She didn't want a fight… But… this was her _mother_.

Once the door closed and they were alone Torundir put down his fork too and raised a pair of shining dark chocolate eyes at her, empty of wrath or frustration.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I am sorry, if I did" he told her. Gilraen was so surprised at his reaction, she couldn't think of any reply, so he went on. "I should know better than to say things like that. Whatever I may think, she is your mother who you miss and I should learn to respect that. I will. I didn't want to hurt you" he finished putting his hand on hers.

"It's… it's all right" Gilraen said struggling to find the right words. "I know that… I know what you think about the whole elven queen issue, and I understand and respect it. But it's not like she is responsible for everything bad to happen… She is not a _bad_ person… Just please… don't blame everything on her."

"I will stop doing that, I promise. Apologies for offending your mother" Torundir replied, now holding her hand.

"It's all right…" Gilraen muttered. She missed her mother. She was angry with her for saying all those things about Torundir, but his saying all these things about her mother made her angry too. She loved her husband, but her mother would always be her mother, no matter how she treated her, or how annoying she was sometimes. Torundir squeezed her hand.

"Are we all right?" he asked searching for her eyes.

"Yes…" Gilraen nodded and he lifted her hand to place a kiss on it. That made her smile. "So…" she started, ready to put this whole affair behind, hoping that he would keep his word. "When will you be back?"

Torundir measured her for a moment, clearly looking for further signs of irritation, so they would not leave anything unresolved before he answered. "Around late afternoon, I suppose."

"Then we can have dinner together?" she gave him a smile. Maybe not now, but by dinner she would be completely calm, and thus craving to spend time with him.

"Yes, we can" he nodded, returning her smile, visibly relaxed that they were really _all right_.

After breakfast Torundir left and Gilraen wondered for an hour what to do alone in the big manor. Her husband had said that she could do anything she liked, she could get a book and read or reorganize anything she liked, do whatever she would normally spend her days with. Only, she had no idea how she would spend her days normally. For years her days were defined by her Academy lessons, by her sister and her mother… In the end, she went upstairs to organize her things. She never got to unpack properly ever since she moved in with Torundir, all her clothes and things were just thrown into her traveling chest.

However, after packing everything she could find in the house, there was really nothing else to do. She couldn't read, somehow no book seemed to be able to occupy her; and she didn't want to go out into the yard either. The servants still stared at her wherever she'd go within the house, and stepping over the doorstep was even worse. She remembered when they went to buy the silver mare for her, each and every man, woman and child they passed on the street turned after them to stare and whisper…

Eventually Gilraen decided to get a book and sat down to read in the parlor for a short while. Up until an enraged Torundir burst the door on her.

"Did _you_ mess up my papers?!" he rounded on her in clear irritation.

"I…" Gilraen stood up stammering, utterly shocked at the situation. "I didn't—"

"When I left in the morning they were all fine! And now I can't find a fucking thing, because _you_ put everything away!" he yelled, completely on the flutter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm… I didn't know—"

"WHY did you even have to fuck up the order of my stuff?! It was a little messy maybe, but _I _had a grip on it, _I_ knew where I could find certain things and now I fucking _can't_!" he shouted at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I'll find everything for you. Please, I didn't mean to—" Gilraen pleaded on the very edge of desperation.

"I don't care what you meant! Who said you could even touch those damned papers?! Now it will take fucking ages to find any bloody fucking thing!" Torundir raged on ignoring her apologies.

"I'll find it for you, I'm so sorry…"

"Then GO and find it, because I need to give it to the damned chancellor for the damned census!" her husband snapped, eyes flashing with anger as he turned out of the room.

Gilraen followed him completely devastated. She so didn't want to upset him, she never thought she would do any harm messing his papers, he was right, she should have asked him specifically before she touched his things, but she didn't mean any harm… it was all with good intention… It took more than five minutes to find that damned paper under his burning glare…

"I'm so sorry…" she muttered handing him the charter. "I'll never touch your writings again, I promise. Please, forgive me…"

"I sincerely recommend that you do not" Torundir said and left without another word.

Gilraen thought she was going to cry. Now even Torundir hated her… She took a deep breath and left for the stairs as gracefully as she could while Pilares, the maids and Stanwick, who came back with Torundir, stared after her silently. Upstairs she sunk onto the small divan at the end of their bed and let out a helpless sigh.

She would always fight with Sybille and Eldarion. And they would always win, leaving her crying or raging after every quarrel. That was all right, she got used to that through the years, they made things up the next day and all was well. Then it started again. It was never new, never different. But Torundir being angry with her was new and broke her heart. She so loved him, she was so sorry...

For the rest of the afternoon Gilraen just sat on the divan and prayed for her husband to come home, so they could make things up. It was already dark when someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Gilraen called and the copper haired, freckled maid, Marla entered with a curtsy.

"Will the Princess wish to have supper?" she asked. That was her, _'the Princess'_; or worse, _'Her Highness'_. Gilraen wondered if the servants would ever accept her as '_the lord_'s wife' at least.

"Is my husband not back yet?" she asked the girl. Marla had always been the most friendly with her, probably that was the reason why it was always her to come to Gilraen at mealtimes to ask if she wished to eat.

"The lord is usually very late when he is angry" Marla shook her head, sympathy flashing in her pale brown eyes. "If you're hungry, there's no reason to wait for him, my princess."

"I'm not hungry, thank you" Gilraen shook her head. That was all about her hopes to make things up with Torundir over dinner. Should she just go to bed and wait for a better day?

Already turning out of the door Marla halted and looked back at her with an empathic face.

"Does the Princess want a bath, maybe?" she asked.

Gilraen shook her head with a grateful smile. "No, thank you" she muttered and the maid left her with a small bow of her head.

Gilraen walked to the hind chamber to wash and change into a nightgown. It was a miserable thing to go to bed without Torundir and even more miserable to know that he was angry with her. She lay awake for a while, hoping that her husband would arrive, trying to get rid of the fears that her mother would eventually prove right and their marriage would not last. Goodness, she was so afraid… She didn't want to lose him.

In the morning she woke to tiredness. This was by far the most uncomfortable night she had spent in the large teakwood bed. Gilraen sat up and looked around with a sigh. Torundir's side of the bed was messed and slept in – he had already left. Arrived after she fell asleep and left before she woke, so he would not have to speak with her. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to rage or cry. Somebody knocked on the door. Torundir would never knock on his own door, she realized with her heart sinking.

"Yes?" she called.

Marla appeared in the door. "Does the Princess wish to break her fast?"

"Yes. I'll be down in twenty minutes. Has my husband left already?" Gilraen asked the girl.

"The lord left about an hour ago" the maid nodded and Gilraen felt her heart flood with sadness once again. "Is there anything I can do for the Princess?" Marla asked her with a sympathetic smile.

"No, thank you… Or yes. Please, Marla, could you let me know if he drops home for anything throughout the day?" Gilraen looked at the maid hoping that she could count on all the friendliness the girl had offered her in the past days. Marla nodded and left with a curtsy.

She only came back twice during the day though, once at lunchtime, once at dinnertime. Never to tell her that Torundir was home.

It was around ten o'clock when Gilraen made up her mind to go to bed… she was already sick of walking circles in the yard, thinking about her mother's words on how her marriage would fall apart in a month, sick of books and sick of waiting for time to pass. She would welcome such novelty as sleeping... She was already lying in bed, her back rested against a large pillow, toying with the framing of the blanket trying to get rid of vague dark thoughts about her marriage when the door opened and Torundir walked in nodding to her in greeting.

Gilraen jumped out of bed at once and walked up to her husband helping himself to a cup of water at the small round table by the door, while her heart thumped with nervous relief to finally be able to talk to him.

"You are back. Good evening!" She wanted to be careful not to say anything that might trigger further fights. He didn't respond. "Did you have dinner?"

"Yes" he nodded and detached his hard leather belt with his dagger hanging on its side.

"And… are you still very angry with me?" Gilraen went on searching for his eyes, but he did too well avoiding hers.

"No" he finally said kicking off his boots.

Well, speaking two words to her justified exactly that… Gilraen had no idea what to say to this.

"Will you come to bed?" she finally asked, slowly moving back to her bedside.

"Yes" Torundir replied and walked over to the other side of the room to undress without another glance at her.

Oh why did he hate her? She had already cursed the moment when she touched his bills a hundred times, she was so sorry… She wanted to take him into her arms, to tell him how sorry she was, to curl up to him so he would hold her… Gilraen sniffed in helplessness and forsaking all hope to make peace with him, she curled up under her blanket, with her back to Torundir, so the man would not see if she failed to hold back her tears.

She could hear Torundir throwing his clothes onto the divan as velvet swished in the air, and sinking onto their bed as the rushes rustled under his weight. The next thing she knew was a strong arm coiling around her waist and a gentle kiss landing on her cheek.

"I'm not angry with you" Torundir spoke into her ear in a smiley-confidential voice.

That was everything for Gilraen; sitting up she spun around and flung her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she spluttered into his ear. "I'm so sorry about messing your papers, I swear it'll never happen again, please forgive me, I'm so sorry!"

Torundir chuckled and pulled her into a bone crushing embrace. "Never mind, it's just some bug of mine, that I go mad if I can't find something. And so, you have to know that this was the first, but most probably not the last outburst of mine that you had to suffer."

"It's all right, just don't hate me" Gilraen muttered into his neck with a relieved smile and hugged him as tight as her arms would let.

Torundir drew away and looked into her eyes. "Gilraen. We are married. We'll have fights. But you need to keep in mind that even when I'm pissed off at you, or I yell at you or don't talk to you, because I'm still angry and grumbly, I still love you. With all my heart. And no fight or missing charter can stop me loving you. Will you remember that, sweetheart?"

All Gilraen could do was not melt away on the spot. "I love you too. I love you so much."

"I love you so much too" he murmured into her neck as leaned in to kiss along her jawline. A shiver ran down Gilraen's spine as his lips touched her skin and she could almost instantly feel his mouth curling into a smirk against neck. "Mmm, let me show you how much…" he groaned into her ear and the next moment was already peeling the silken nightgown off of her shoulder.

Her whole body was burning with need by the time the shower of his kisses reached her navel and below. Her knees opened instinctively as the man tugged up her nightgown, no more than a circle of silk around her waist by this time. Torundir was already messing with his pants when Gilraen sat up and pushed away his hand. She wanted to do that. A wicked smile spread over her husband's face as he leaned back to let her unlace the strings.

Soon she was underneath him, pressed hard into the mattress, panting heavily, her legs wrapped around Torundir's waist, her fingers digging into his back leaving bright red scratch marks as she threw back her head with a shrill of pleasure. Her husband silenced her with a suffocating kiss before he growled into her hair at his own release, biting on the column of her neck.

They panted in each other's arms for a while and Gilraen was sure that all the servants heard that they had made it up.

"My sweet love" Torundir murmured into her neck as she curled up against him.

"I so hated that we were fighting…" Gilraen said silently as she nuzzled against him.

"This is much better, indeed" Torundir smiled and kissed her shoulder. "Sorry about your neck" he added with a chuckle.

Gilraen burst into giggles. "It's fine. Sorry about your back too."

"Ah, I'll forgive you" the man grinned kissing the top of her head. "Ah, sweetheart…" he went on remembering. "I never remembered to tell you, because I was pissed off at you, but I met Barahin yesterday morning."

"And what did he say?" Gilraen asked caressing the man's lower arm.

"He said that his wife would love to meet you and have tea with you one afternoon."

Gilraen blinked. "Oh." To have tea with the Lady Ëlyel… That was very… "And you want me to have tea with her?"

"No, I'm proposing Barahin's offer to you" Torundir said. "You don't have to have tea with her if you don't want to. It's up to you."

"All right…" Gilraen nodded thinking hard what she thought of this whole offer. "I don't know… It's not like she _has to_ make friends with me, only because I married you…" And going out onto the street and spending a chatty afternoon with a woman she met only once, when the family of her sister's betrothed feasted her family who now disowned her, was nothing but odd, awkward and embarrassing.

"She is not making friends with you because she feels it's her duty. She wants to have tea with you because Barahin is dying with curiosity to find out what the woman's like who _'turned my brains',_ as he would put it, so he is making Ëlyel spy on you."

"Spy on me?" Gilraen raised an eyebrow. "This really sounds much more appealing…"

Torundir laughed. "That's some custom of ours. When Barahin married Ëlyel we were damn curious about her too, and back then it was Beregond's wife who '_spied_' on her for us. But as I have said, you don't have to accept if you don't want to…"

"But you would like me to have tea with her, no?" Gilraen asked him.

"It is up to you to decide."

Gilraen rolled her eyes and chuckled. "But would you please at least tell me what you think about it?"

"Maybe. After you told me what _you_ thought about it. I don't want to influence your decision on this matter. You don't have to be friends with Ëlyel, only because I'm friends with her husband" Torundir gave her a small mystery smile.

"I think that… it'd be strange. I don't know. I just so don't feel ready to walk out onto the street and have people stare after me and whisper behind my back and… Ëlyel will be my sister's sister-in-law, which just makes it so awkward. I really don't know" Gilraen mused.

"All right. I'll tell you what I think" Torundir nodded and rolled her around to face him. He stroked her cheeks and went on. "It might not be such a bad idea for you to have tea with Ëlyel. You might not like her, it can happen, but maybe you'll have a nice time. It'd be good for you to have some company apart from me. Some female company, with whom you could talk about curtains and flowers and all woman kind of things…"

"Curtains and flowers?" Gilraen grinned up at him.

"According to my sister that's what women talk about among each other, but maybe that was just another moment of her playing me fool" Torundir chuckled. "Gilraen, I want you to be happy. I want to give you everything that makes you happy. Everything gold can buy along with everything it cannot. Once you told me you had cushions in your bedroom. You want cushions here? Because if you do, go and get some, I'll even go with you if you want me to."

Gilraen felt so touched by his words. To go and buy cushions with her was something he would never do for anybody else's sake, she knew. She reached up to kiss his cheek.

"This room is just fine, it doesn't need any cushions" she smiled at him warmly.

"I can't say I'm not relieved to hear that" the man nodded with a grin. "What I'm saying is that there are things that cannot be bought. But there are chances. And if you gave this tea thing a chance, maybe it would turn out well, and you'd have someone to talk to. Ëlyel is an intelligent woman. She wouldn't be rude to you and I would even voucher that she knows better than to start talking about your sister. But I'm not forcing anything onto you. If you don't feel comfortable with this, don't go. All I ask is that you consider their proposition" Torundir finished.

Gilraen buried her face into his chest and inhaled the loving scent of her husband. He really loved her. Her mother was wrong, so wrong. He really cared for her.

"I'll think about it, I promise" she looked up to him and with a smile he leaned in to kiss her.

"I want to see you happy" the man drew his arms around her.

"I love you, Torundir" Gilraen murmured into his neck preparing to fall into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Ah well... I'm addicted to happy ends. Please let me know what you think, how much you hate or not hate Torundir now, whatever comes to your mind :) I'd be really glad to read your reviews.

As for update. I'm going to Paris next week, so I don't know how I'll have time to write. Maybe on the plane, or not sure. If I can get it done, I'll post. Count on some deadly fluffy stuff, after all, it might be a Paris update, haha :D


	5. Scene No 5

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Oh my goodness, there's such an AMAZING weather outside. Honestly, it's just amazing. I've already went for a walk, but I might go for another one, because it's already dark and the city lights just make the snow even more wonderful. Everything is white and shining and these fabulously rich and large snowflakes are falling. I'm just sitting on the sofa, drinking hot tea and looking out of the window, onto the snow covered trees, rooftops and streets. I love this weather. I'm half sorry we are going away tomorrow. Getting to the point. I had a free Sunday so I could get to do some writing. I hope you'll like it and read it in company of a large cup of hot tea while you are watching the beautiful snowfall. Given that it's snowing in your place too :))

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**SCENE No. 5**

_- set on the day (and night and morning) before Sybille's wedding (Family Complications - Epilogue) -_

Somebody was talking. This one had been talking for close twenty minutes. Torundir had no idea what this fat man was talking about and exchanging a tired look with Barahin, he was sure that his friend had lost track of the speech as well. They had been sitting here for six hours. Some food and wine were brought halfway, but six hours were six hours and to spend those six fucking hours sitting on a council was far more killing than any of them had guessed. It was a rather ironic idea of fate that sitting in one place was the most tiring thing in the whole world.

And tiredness was the death of councils. The more tired men got, the more tense and jumpy they became; conclusion was nowhere in sight. The younger Forlan brother already looked as though he was going to stand up and throw the fat man out of the window if he went on for another ten minutes; Beregond looked a decade older than he was from weariness, while Eldarion kept leering at his father, silently praying for him to stop the fat man and call an end to the council.

Finally the King lifted his hand and thanking the fat man for his detailed description of the Haradrim moves of the past month rose to speak.

"If I remember correctly we started off with the question of the peace pact a few ages ago" he looked around while the Prince chuckled on his right. "Everybody has shared their views with us, now it's time we cleared where we all stand so we can continue discussing this important matter on Monday." Murmurs of agreement washed over the gathering and the King went on. "The starting point was the Haradrim proposition to extend our current peace pact for the pirate ships they are collaborating with hauling their merchandise along our southern coast. Finduras brought up the arguments why it would eventually prove beneficial and some of you supported him. Any new arguments to arise?"

The King looked around, but luckily no new bleeding arguments arose.

"Nobody changed their point of view, either? Eldarion?" the King turned to his son.

"My view point is the exact same as six and a half hours ago" the prince inclined with head with a small smile.

"Lord Hirgon?"

"No change on my side, Your Majesty" the spy master shook his head.

"Torundir?"

"Still against the extension, my lord" Torundir replied. He still wasn't sure if his opinion on this matter counted this much because of the threat the extended peace pact would bring to Maeregard and the fisher villages and smaller ports of the area; or because of the King's recent reconciliation with Gilraen. Well, it would turn out next week, when they would already have Florian on the council too, officially as the King's son-in-law by that time.

"I, too, am not convinced of those benefits" the King nodded.

All three responses supporting his opinion, King Aragorn did not seem to look for further reasons to go on with the council. "That was it for today then. I will see you all on Monday at 9 o'clock to finish the discussion. My lords."

What a relief it was to stand up and stretch his legs. And even better it would be to go home and eat and have a bath and simply not think about the peace pact for a few hours. Torundir joined the line queuing to bid farewell and good night to the King, but this time even this after ceremony of the council was shorter with everybody more than eager to get home, the King chief among them having his daughter's wedding on the following afternoon. He never thought he would, but Torundir found himself looking forward to Sybille's wedding with surprising anticipation. Some time to talk and drink with friends was something he hadn't had in ages and missed very much. Maybe he would even get to talk with his wife for half an hour…

"Heading home?" Barahin asked him as the council dissolved and the men flooded out into the darkness of the Sixth Street. It was close ten o'clock in the evening.

"Where else?" Torundir answered wearily.

"You don't seem very enthusiastic…" Barahin chuckled teasing.

"No, it's not that…" he shook his head. He was glad to go home, glad to have dinner, to get a bath, to go to bed and _sleep_… That was what going to bed meant recently. Or not even that, when his son thought otherwise.

"Oh-ho-ho" Barahin broke into a knowing laughter. "Few more months to wait, my friend" he patted his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know your problem. I'm having the same. But I have already done this once, and it'll pass, trust me."

Torundir raised his eyebrows. He was just too tired to follow riddles right now. "What will pass?"

"Come on, I know this. You scarcely see your wife, because she's with your son all the time. And that's just right, that's what mothers do, what they are supposed to do. But beds get cold and lonely very easily when your wife spends her nights breastfeeding, singing lullabies and passes out from tiredness after the little one finally gives in to falling asleep. We had this going on for six months with Anarys. I thought I would go mad."

Torundir gave a chuckle. He seriously hoped they would not have this going on for four more months with Turgalon. Because surely, he_ would_ go mad.

"It's not like I envy her from him, you know…" he mused.

"Oh yes, it's exactly like that. Why does she have to be with the baby all the time, why can't she talk with you, laugh with you, go to bed with you? It's exactly like that" his friend sniffed with a chuckle.

"It's not" Torundir insisted. "I love my son. I want him to have his mother around every time he needs her."

"I love my daughter too" Barahin shook his head. "But I also love my wife. And so do you" his friend pointed at him with a knowing glare.

"Yes" Torundir gave in with an amused eye-roll. "I do. And I so fucking miss her. We live in the same damn house and I scarcely even see her. I wake up and she is already with our son, feeding him. We never have breakfast together, because she is with the child, then I leave and when I get home, she is feeding him again, or trying to make him sleep or taking him out into the garden. And when I finally get to go to bed, she is already asleep, because she is so tired. I'm such a shitty father to envy her from him, right?"

Barahin burst out laughing. "No, you aren't. It was the exact same for us. Beginnings is always rough; we find it hard to understand that our wives are not only ours anymore… All I can say is that you be patient and wait. I'm going that way. Good night!" he patted his shoulder and turned off the Fifth Street.

"'Night" Torundir nodded and headed home too.

It was not so late yet, maybe Gilraen would be up and they could talk a little at least. He missed her. And he seriously hoped that he would live to see his son having the same issues with _his _wife and new born child so the poor babe would once understand that he was not blaming him. He was not blaming anybody actually… Barahin was right, it was a change he would get used to with time…

Pilares received him at home and while she brought dinner for him, he sent of one of the maids to prepare a bath for him.

"My wife?" Torundir glanced up at Pilares as the woman placed a plate of roast goose in front of him.

"She went upstairs to put the child to sleep about an hour ago, my lord" the housekeeper said.

After finishing dinner Torundir made his way upstairs to check on his bath and almost crashed into the cleaning maid.

"Apologies, m'lord" she muttered dropping her gaze. Torundir gave her an angry glare but he needed to talk with the girl, so there was no point in telling her off.

"My wife is still with the babe?"

"Yes, my lord, the lady is already sleeping too. She was very tired."

"Of course she is…" Torundir gave disappointed nod.

"Your bath is ready, my lord" the maid curtsied and scurried down the stairs.

He was really not this scary. Or was he? Once Gilraen said that young women tended to be scared of him. That had been back during their secret affair time, maybe in relation with the rest of the girls from Gilraen's Art of Hunting Bullshit group, he didn't remember. And of course Sybille was another proof of young women tending to be scared of him too. Not like he minded. The only young woman who did not generally annoy him was his wife. Because she was intelligent. And sweet. And just amazing.

Torundir walked past the nursery door and headed straight to the hind room to wash. After that he would come back to check on his son and wife. He entered the chamber, full of steam already and walked to the laundry corner to undress. This had alway been a handy room, had two doors, one opening into his bedchamber, the other onto the hallway, so the servants would not disturb them going through their bedroom when they prepared a bath or collected the laundry or cleaned or made a baby bath for their son. Turgalon loved baths, he giggled and kicked and splashed water all over Gilraen which only made her laugh with him. That was sweet. They were so sweet together, Gilraen and their son… If only his son would let him have a little of his mother too. He was throwing the last piece of clothing into the laundry chest when a loud splashing sound behind his back made him turn around.

Gilraen was sitting in the bathtub a mysterious smile dancing on her red lips, her golden locks pinned to the top of her head, water drops rolling down the curves of her ivory shoulders like crystal beads, one of her legs, which splashed the water to catch his attention, still in mid-air as she slowly drew it back into the steaming water. She was more beautiful than anything in the world.

Was he this tired? That he hadn't noticed her when he entered the chamber?

"I was told you were already sleeping" he spoke up with a challenging smile understanding the situation a once. _She_ had told Pilares and Marla to tell him that she already went to bed.

"And are you happy that I'm not?" Gilraen asked twinkling at him.

"If you were aiming for a pleasant surprise, this is by far the best I could imagine" he shook his head with a grin as he walked up to the tub. "Where's our son?"

"He _is_ sleeping" Gilraen smiled. "Will you join me? This is your bath, after all…"

Torundir chuckled and climbed into the tub. Gilraen flirting with him was the loveliest thing in the world. He loved those suggestive eyes and twinkles, those mystery smiles and tones, and above all he loved the way they paired with the rosy blush on her cheeks, because she would never grow out of blushing when they flirted. The moment he sunk into the water, her arms were around his shoulders.

"My dear, you are so tired" she sighed and sliding behind him started washing and massaging his back with a sponge.

"Wait now. This is my bath, as you pointed out, my sweet, let me enjoy it as long as I can" Torundir smirked and pulled her into his arms burying his face into her neck, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her skin.

"As long as you can?" he heard her amused voice.

"As we both know well, Turgalon being asleep now doesn't mean he'll be asleep in ten minutes too, right?"

"Well then, he'll have Marla and Dolly to rock him back to sleep or entertain him for the rest of the night, right?" Gilraen raised a smiley eyebrow and Torundir's jaw dropped. This night was getting better and better with every minute.

"And what is that supposed to mean, my sweetest wife?"

"That I miss you so badly, my beloved husband" she said simply, looking into his eyes.

He couldn't say anything else to that. Torundir grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into his lap capturing her lips in the hardest, deepest, most hungry kiss they have had in months. Her arms coiled around his neck and her torso brushed against his as she kissed him back with ever growing passion. The feel of her full breasts pressing into his chest drew all the blood out of his head to a lower region of his body.

Gilraen broke their kiss with a giggle. "Oh, my beloved husband missed me too?" she smiled brushing her inner thighs against his erection, flushing rosy red on both cheeks.

"Oh sweetheart, I miss you so much, I want you so much" he panted into her ears pulling her back into their kiss.

Torundir had no idea how much time passed eating, biting, sucking each other's lips among their mad kisses and hugs. By the time he came to his senses again, his whole body felt like exploding and Gilraen was trembling with desire in his arms too.

"Wait, wait" he pulled away from her mouth. "Finish me with your hand before I explode…"

"What? Why with my hand?" she looked at him utterly bewildered.

"The midwife said you should not… After you gave birth…"

"Oh darling" she laughed and kissed his cheeks. "I'm fine. Torundir, two months were just perfectly enough to recover from the birth. The midwife said it should be up to eight weeks. It's nine weeks now, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he looked at her, brushing her face with his knuckles.

"I'm sure. Just start off gently" she smiled at him.

There was nothing like taking his wife again after three months. He threw back his head in pleasure and a gasp escaped his mouth as he entered her.

"Are you still fine?" he glanced at Gilraen after a moment of shutting his eyes tight so he wouldn't release right away.

"More than fine" she whispered resuming their kiss as he started making love to her.

By the time they lay in each other's arms, spent and panting, half of the water was gone, Torundir realized.

"We splashed it?" Gilraen mused. "That much?"

"Are you kidding me? This was so amazingly crazy bloody good I'd not be surprised if we splashed _all_ the water…" he laughed.

"Hmmm, you are right" she sighed happily relaxing against his chest.

"The water is getting cold. Shall we get out and continue in bed?" Torundir grinned at her.

"My thoughts exactly" his wife twinkled back with a small smile.

After having Gilraen once more, in bed this time, he was so tired and so content he couldn't lift a finger. His wife curled up to him and he drew an arm around her waist while she kept caressing his hand as they talked.

"When is your sister's wedding exactly?" Torundir asked kissing her head.

"The ceremony starts at four o'clock, but it'd be good if we could get there by three. I want to give her my congratulations, not just wave hello at her when she's walking up to the altar."

"That's fine with me. We can go whenever you want, I don't have anything apart from the wedding tomorrow."

"And how was the council? You seemed very tired."

"Please, let's not talk about the council… Almost seven hours long, it was a torture" Torundir chuckled. "We chewed on the same arguments for hours, your brother even made some joke about it, I forgot, but it was hilarious and the biggest achievement of the council."

"That sounds like him" Gilraen nodded.

"The King will never let extension supporters convince him, and he is right. The whole debate was doomed to be fruitless …"

"And this will go on next week too?" she yawned. "Why do you even have councils then?"

"Well, you know us lords, we can't live without our councils" Torundir chuckled. "But six hours long ones are a little too much even for us. Shall we sleep, my sweet?"

"Mmm-hmm" Gilraen nuzzled against him blew off the bed side candle. "Good night!"

One last lungful of his wife's scent and he was fast asleep.

In the morning he woke to Gilraen slipping out of his arms. She turned back and gave him a swift kiss when she noticed she had woken him.

"Just a quarter of an hour. I'll be back. Go back to sleep" she whispered and tiptoed out of the door.

He couldn't go back to sleep though. So he just stared at the ceiling and waited for her to come back so they would cuddle for a while. Or he could just get up and go and see his son. Torundir pushed himself up on both elbows.

"Gilraen!" he called.

"Five more minutes" she called back softly.

"Bring him here when you finish" Torundir said and laid back against a pillow.

After a few minutes Gilraen reappeared in the door with their son in her arms.

"Say hello to Father, baby! Good morning Father!" she cooed to him smiling as she walked to the bed.

Torundir broke into the same incredulous smile the baby brought to his face every time he saw him. He was the sweetest child in the world.

"Give him to me" he said sitting up and took the baby from Gilraen's hands. "There is a big boy" he smiled at his son. "You are a bad boy, you know that, my son? Never letting poor Mama sleep. Such a bad boy, huh?" he lifted the child above his head who grinned down at them and kicked in mid-air with a giggle.

"There's your answer, _Yes, I am_" Gilraen laughed and lay beside him.

They played with the baby like that for a while. Gilraen rested her head on his chest, while Torundir lifted their son up and down and Gilraen tickled the baby's feet every time he brought him down.

"Auch!" Gilraen laughed as Turgalon grabbed a fistful of her hair with a giggle.

"That's the revenge for tickling him" Torundir chuckled and held the baby in place while his wife untangled her hair from the child's tiny fingers.

"You should put him down, it's tiring to hold his head for so long like that" Gilraen said reaching up to kiss the baby's nose.

"Tiring? Oh Mama, what do you know of being a man?" Torundir chuckled lifting his son back up. "He doesn't mind doing anything tiring, he wants to be strong and muscular to win every fight and be a great swordsman so every girl will be dreaming of him. And then he can dump all the ugly and stupid ones, and find someone as lovely and beautiful as his Mama."

The baby grinned and giggled teetering in mid-air with all his limbs. "You see, he agrees with me" Torundir smirked at his wife who just shook his head.

"I can see you two will make a wonderful team worrying me to craziness in the future" Gilraen smiled and reached up to take Turgalon from his hands anyways. "Hello baby!" she chirped to him as she brought him down and laid him on top of her so his little head could rest on her chest. "Will you fall asleep, my darling? Fall into a nap and dream something fun of girls and sword fighting? Will you, sweet baby?"

"Judging from his eyes, he will" Torundir smiled and cupped the child's head. "I love you" he said to Gilraen and kissed her brow. "I love you too" he grinned at his son and placed a kiss on his soft head.

"We love you too. You are our life. At least mine. But I'm sure Turgalon agrees" Gilraen said sleepily stroking their son's back rhythmically.

Torundir just smiled at her response twirling her golden locks around his fingers. They meant the world to him. His wife and son. They were everything. For a while he just listened to Gilraen's steady breathing as she fell asleep her head resting on his chest, their son resting on hers and thought about all the things he would teach his son when he was old enough. There were so many vague ideas, and only one thing he was sure of, that he would be so proud of his sons. Because Turgalon would have brothers of course. And a little sister too, with Gilraen's golden hair and blue eyes…

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Okay, an important question, please let me know in a review. I was quite in an estrogen flow mood when I wrote this and I just want to know that I didn't not like... unman him for the want of a better word. :"D

So thank you for reading and I'd be really happy to read your thoughts or comments. I don't really know when the next chapter is coming, I'm getting back from Paris next week, so it'll probably be next weekend. Until then, au revior and enjoy the snow (if you have any - if you don't, enjoy the sunshine, or whatever you have, the point is that you enjoy it :))


	6. Scene No 6

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

I never thought there was anything to this whole average look of one nationality or region thing, but yeah when we were in France a lot of people made guesses that we were this and this nationality and even if someone got it wrong, those guesses were on neighbor counties too. Is it the accent? Well, it was hilarious. I should really stop these personal comments things in my ANs, because... yeah who cares about our weather or stuff like that. But to me it comes down as a little rude and stupid if I just wrote 'Duh, new chapter' and that's all. So that's why all the talking all the time. This one shot has been done for a while, but I just kept editing it for ages. Cutting out some things, changing some lines... Okay, well here's the result and let me know what you think of it :)

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**SCENE No. 6 **

_- set right before Sybille's wedding (Family Complications - Epilogue) -_

"Come _on_!"

"Right, all right, just… I so hate to leave him all alone for a whole day…"

"He won't be alone and it's not a whole day. He won't even notice, we were gone."

"But what if something is up and I'm not here to comfort him or feed him? I have never left him alone ever before!"

"For the last time, he won't be alone. Let's go now."

"I so hate leaving him alone—"

"Gilraen!" Torundir snapped at her completely out of patience. "He will be fine! Shut up and let's go, it's _your_ sister's wedding. Move! Now!"

The next thing she knew was being dragged out of the nursery by her upper arm.

"Fine, fine" she chuckled. "I'll stop… I'll just… hope everything will be fine and stop worrying. All right?" Gilraen raised her hands defensively and Torundir finally let go of her with an annoyed glare.

"All right. Let us go then" he nodded with an apologetic smile and offered her an arm.

They descended the stair and said goodbye to Pilares which basically consisted of her making the woman swear for the third time that day that they would take good care of Turgalon while Torundir kept rolling his eyes half in amusement, half in annoyance. Gilraen rolled her eyes too. _She_ was right. She was leaving her little baby alone for the first time and thus she _was_ in possession of every right to overreact and worry.

Once out of the house, they headed for the sixth level to the Great Ceremony Hall where Sybille's wedding was held. Gilraen wondered what her sister was doing. Probably dancing around some room in happiness that she would finally be married to her sweetest beloved darling Florian. She really wanted to talk with Sybille before the ceremony, to hug her, to tell her how happy she was for them and to give her congratulations to her.

She felt Torundir's arms coil around her waist as her husband leaned in to kiss her cheekbone.

"He'll be fine, sweetheart. Just enjoy your sister's wedding now" he said to her and Gilraen couldn't help but break into an incredulous smile as she nuzzled against her husband for a moment before they resumed their walk.

"I wonder what Sybille's doing now" she mused as Torundir armed her.

"Trying out the seventh hairstyle for the ceremony?" he suggested with an innocent smile and Gilraen burst out laughing.

"Oh, you so don't know her. Sybille never leaves anything to the last minute. She had tried twelve different hairstyles in the past weeks, had each of them made twice so she would remember them well and _then _make a precise decision on what hairstyle with what jewels she would wear."

"And that _entertained_ her?" Torundir asked raising his eyebrows.

"Immensely" Gilraen nodded with a grin.

There was a huge gathering in front of the ceremony hall already, everybody was waiting to be admitted to see the High Princess wedded, guests, friends, all the nobility of Minas Tirith. They joined Lord Beregond and Barahin for a short conversation before Gilraen decided to go and seek out her sister. Sybille was getting ready in the palace and for a moment, Gilraen wasn't sure if the guards would let her up to see her, but maybe having reconciled with her father those regulations would be out of order by this time.

She got through all gates without any trouble and even found a householder who told her where Sybille was getting ready. Reaching the right door, she knocked in and a handmaid admitted her at once. Sybille was standing with her back to the door, already wearing her magnificent white-gold wedding dress.

"Good afternoon, happy bride!" Gilraen spoke up to draw her attention.

"Gilraen!" Sybille spun around and threw herself into her arms locking her into a suffocating hug.

"Oh, I'm happy to see you too" Gilraen laughed, but her sister did not even smile, an utterly desperate expression occupied her entire face.

"Oh I'm so glad you are here, thank goodness you are here! Oh I don't know what I'm doing, you need to help me!" Sybille spluttered gesticulating in mid-air with both hands.

"I… how can I help you? I mean what's wrong? You are getting married, this is so wonderful!" Gilraen raised a pair of confused eyebrows at her sister.

"Yes, yes, very wonderful!" Sybille snapped impatiently. "Didn't you understand what I said? I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"No, Sybille, I'm sorry, but I actually don't understand. You are marrying Florian, that's what you are doing. What's wrong? What's the matter with that?" Gilraen asked her utterly puzzled at her sister's reaction.

"Everything!" Sybille cried desperately. "Don't you see? I-I-I… I have no idea how to be married! I have no idea how to be a wife! I just don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

"Oh, darling…" Gilraen drew an arm around her and led her to a chair. "Come, sit down. You are just really excited that's why all your worries seem so serious—"

"No. No, no, no. I'm not just excited. Gilraen… I… I don't want to mess it up! I want to be happy! And I have no idea how! What will I even do? What… what is a wife supposed to do? I have no idea, I have never been a wife, I have never been married, I don't have the slightest clue of what I am supposed to do as a wife!"

"First off, you are supposed to calm down" Gilraen shook her head. "Nobody has been married before their wedding, nobody knows how to be a wife before their wedding. And that's just not something there are books written about so we could learn it, because it's different for everybody. It's up to you and Florian, you will decide what marriage will be like for you once you are there. There are no rules of what a wife should do and should not do… Well, obviously there are ground rules, like… you have to be faithful to your husband. But everyday things are up to you. By tomorrow, you will already be settling an order and you'll feel a lot more confident."

Sybille just snorted. "Yes,_ if_ we even make it to that…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… you know…" Sybille murmured turning away. "You have to make through the night to see the next day…"

Gilraen's jaw dropped. She was starting to get the feeling that she really didn't like the where this conversation was going.

"I… have no idea… about… wedding nights…" Sybille pressed out still avoiding her eyes as she blushed scarlet red.

"Well, if I remember correctly, eight years ago it was _you_ who enlightened _me_ about what happens on a wedding night and not the other way around" Gilraen said carefully.

"Oh, stop that!" Sybille snapped turning back to her. "It's not like I don't _understand_ what will happen! I just have no idea what to do… Like you just go into the bedroom and what…? I have no idea!"

Gilraen closed her eyes. No, there was no way she was going into this discussion… She could already feel her cheeks flaming, this was so awkward, she just _couldn't_ talk about this with Sybille.

"_You_ know how this goes, _you_ know what to do…" her sister went on, her voice shrinking. "Please, Gilraen" she looked into her eyes, her face burning with embarrassment. "You need to help me… you need to tell me…" Words caught in her throat, Sybille tried to think of what exactly she expected her to tell her. "…_ something!_" she finished.

Oh goodness… "Is there really nobody else—?"

"Like who?! Mother? Yes, I am so going to ask her about this…" Sybille made a face.

"Fine! All right…" Gilraen sighed and with one last glance at her sister's puppy eyes, she knew she was not getting out of this. "What do you… want to know?" she looked at Sybille. "You don't actually have to know what to do. You don't have to do anything, I'm sure that… that Florian will… _know what to do_" Gilraen finished.

Goodness, she couldn't believe she was talking about what _Florian _would and would not know to do in bed.

"Will he?" Sybille looked surprised.

"Holy heavens, Sybille, you didn't think that he's… that he had never…?"

"No!" Sybille cried out horrified. "Of course I did not. Just… I never really thought thoroughly about what my future husband had or had not done with other women, you know."

"You're right. Sorry" Gilraen muttered and took a deep breath before she looked up at her sister.

"So. He'll know what to do… But is that enough? Shouldn't I know what he will do too? Didn't you know? I mean not on your wedding night of course, but when you first… with your husband..." Sybille made a face that suggested Gilraen her sister found it just as gross and uncomfortable to think of what Torundir did in bed as she found discussing the same concerning Florian.

Oh no, no, no. Gilraen took a deep breath. There was no way she was asking her about what _they_ did in bed…

"You will know what he will do when he is doing it…"

"Being married for a year and having a son, that's all you can contribute to the topic, right?" Sybille glared at her.

Gilraen was about to yell at her sister for respecting no personal space or discretion to ask her such things. But even in her mind, the words sounded beyond ridiculous. Gilraen burst into a helpless fit of laughter.

"Oh my goodness, we are really going to talk about this?" she choked.

"Well, do you think I feel any more comfortable?" Sybille raised an eyebrow suggesting that Gilraen must have lost her mind before she joined her laughter. "Yes…" she chuckled with scarlet cheeks. "I guess we are really going to talk about this…" Sybille broke their eye contact to recover from laughing. "Please…" she added then looking back at her, all serious again.

This was really important to her, Gilraen realized and with a sigh turned her chair to face her sister.

"All right. For me, it was nothing like it'll be for you. When I… we didn't plan our first time. It just sort of happened, because we started kissing and we were alone and there was just no stopping after a while. We did not even talk about it much. And I was fine with that, because I don't know… somehow I didn't need that. But we are different, if you feel you need to talk about it before it happens, then here we are and let's talk about it, no matter how awkward it is."

"Then how did you know what to do?" Sybille asked her all nerves on edge.

"You are really obsessed with this knowing what to do thing. I had no idea what I was doing, somehow everything just came… instinctively. And I wasn't doing much at all. When he pulled me with him, I went, when he laid me down, I lay down, when he… oh my goodness, pulled up my skirt…" Gilraen thought her cheeks were positively aflame. "… I opened my legs… that just goes by instinct. He knew what he was doing and that was enough. I trusted him."

"And Florian will know what to do and I won't have to do much either, right?"

"I don't know. Florian is a different man and we are different too. Maybe you'll like it otherwise…"

"You liked it? Your first time" Sybille bit her lower lip.

"Yes" Gilraen nodded with a musing smile. "It was really wonderful actually. Despite all the circumstances."

"Where did you do it?" the question broke out of her sister. "I've been wanting to ask this for months."

"Oh no… I'm not going to tell you. I just can't…"

"Come on!" Sybille chuckled with curious grin.

"Sybille…"

"Come on! I'm the bride, this is my wedding day. You have to tell me, everybody has to do everything for me today" Sybille grinned taunting.

"Please don't…" Gilraen pleaded, but her sister just looked at her with those merciless _answer or die_ eyes. "In the practice hall" Gilraen finally pressed out burying her face into her hands.

"NO!" Sybille burst into a fit of giggles. "In the practice hall? Oh my goodness, how? And why? Why there? Oh my goodness, this is so…" she was positively shaking with laughter, so it never turned out what making out in the practice hall was so like.

"All right, all right. Just let's concentrate on _you_ now" Gilraen shook her head and mentioning her own situation at hand seemed to have done the trick, Sybille did recover a little.

"Right… Erm… how much does it hurt? Is it very weird?"

"That depends on you again. To me, it didn't hurt much. But it's important that he is gentle with you. And it's not weird at all. Maybe the first few minutes, but then it's not weird at all."

"And will he be gentle? Your husband was gentle?" Sybille raised an uncertain eyebrow.

"I am sure, Florian will be very gentle and caring with you. And yes, Torundir was so. He really made sure that it hurts me as little as possible and that I enjoy it as much as possible. All the whore story and everything, but I'm glad that it happened like that, with him, then and there…"

"In the practice hall…" Sybille interjected innocently and pressed her lips together not to burst out laughing.

"Shut up, the practice hall was fine" Gilraen shook her head with a chuckle.

"All right" her sister raised her hands defensively and hid one last grin before she went on. "Okay… One more thing…"

That meant they would be talking about this for another half an hour.

"What if it's bad for me? What if I don't like it?"

"The second time will be a lot better."

"You just said you enjoyed the first! What am I to make of that now?" Sybille glared at her.

"I did. But for the second time, to use your phrase, I knew what was going on and I was a lot more confident and relaxed. And it's even better like that" Gilraen replied.

"And what if Florian doesn't like it with me? If he doesn't want a second time?"

"That's not going to happen" Gilraen shook her head. "Florian loves you and there's just no way that a man doesn't want a second time or a third or fourth one. He'll always want another time."

"And afterwards? What happens after we are done? He just walks away? Or I walk away? What happened after you were done in the practice hall?"

"Well, you'll be in bed, not in the practice hall, so you'll just go to sleep, I guess. Not right after you finish, of course. You'll talk and cuddle and fall asleep in each other's arms… I don't know. That's what we do, but maybe you'll like to do something else, who knows?"

"You sleep together?" Sybille stared at her. "After you… you know, after you are together?"

"We always sleep together" Gilraen nodded. "Even when we don't do anything else. I only slept separately for a fortnight after I had the baby."

"Yes, I thought that was _your_ room, where we went to visit you and the baby…" Sybille hummed. "How weird… I mean… isn't that weird to sleep together? Everybody sleeps together? Mother and Father don't."

"Ëlyel and Lord Barahin don't sleep together either, and I guess it's not really a custom in general, but I'm not familiar with many people's sleeping and… other habits."

"Just Ëlyel and Barahin's…" Sybille hummed gulping down another chuckle.

"Well I was talking with Ëlyel about something once and it somehow came up and she was as surprised as you are, that's how I know that…" Gilraen rolled her eyes at her.

"And where's the baby? Isn't it like cradles are beside the mothers' beds?"

"You remember that room we were in when you came to see Turgalon. It has a door opening onto the corridor and another opening into Torundir's bedchamber. And it's like we sleep together in our bed and the small door is open and the cradle is right there, so I'll hear if he wakes. I close the small door when I go over to feed or comfort him, so Torundir can sleep" Gilraen explained.

"I see" Sybille nodded. "Oh I so hope I'll have a nice wedding night…" Sybille sighed.

"I'm sure you will" Gilraen smiled at her sister. "Just don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"Thank you, Gilraen. For all this" Sybille said, her eyes overflowing with gratitude.

"You're welcome" Gilraen nodded.

"You know this was good. I mean it was so embarrassing and so awkward and weird, but good too… How many years has it been since we talked about so personal things to each other? Four years? So much time. I missed talking with you. About serious things…"

Gilraen felt an unexpected tide of emotion flooding her heart. She had missed talking with Sybille too. Lately, she had been talking about all her personal things with Ëlyel, but no matter what an amazing friend Ëlyel was, she was not her twin, like Sybille. And Sybille was so different somehow… she was _growing up_. Gilraen stood up and brought her sister into her arms.

"Congratulations Sybille. I wish you all the happiness there is in life. I want you to know that I'm so happy for you and please forgive me if I made you feel that I envied happiness from you in the past years. I didn't. I was so happy for you. Always. I was only unhappy and sour for myself."

"There's really nothing to forgive… I _did _envy you when you married your husband. It bothered me that you were the first and not me… It was so ridiculous, I'm really ashamed of that time. Turning my back on you" Sybille grimaced returning her hug.

"It's history now and you have helped me so much since then" Gilraen shrugged. "So… shall we just promise that we'll try to rebuild our good old twin bond?"

"Yes! Yes, we shall! I would love to!" Sybille laughed. "But you know… that comes with responsibilities" she went on with a way too familiar evil smirk. "You never answered my question about what happened after the practice hall."

"Oh, darling sister, I would love to, but alas, a whole ceremony hall is waiting for you it's really time you set off for your wedding, so maybe some other time, in another life…"

Sybille was shaking with giggles when the door opened.

"Am I interrupting something?" Their father appeared wearing the warmest of all smiles.

"No, no, no! I was about to get ready to go" Sybille shook her head quickly, recovering from her last laugh at once.

"You are so beautiful, my dear. You cannot imagine the joy it gives me to see you so happy" he walked up to Sybille and took her hand. "Congratulations my darling, I wish you the happiest marriage in the world" their father said in a strangely emotional voice and kissed Sybille on the forehead.

"Thank you, Father" she replied fighting her tears.

Gilraen just watched, trying to hold back a tear herself. It was strange that she would never have a moment like this with her father. She had thrown away the chance of that herself… Surely her father was disappointed too, that he never had the chance to give her to the man she loved, like he was giving Sybille's hand to Florian now… What a mistake that was. But it turned out well, in the end. The memory of reconciling with her father, over her new born baby wiped away all regrets. That was a moment Sybille would never have. And it was just the same magical as this one in a way.

"How are you, Gilraen?" their father walked over to her and brought her into a light embrace.

"Very well, thank you, Father. And you? I heard you had a tiring day yesterday?" Gilraen replied, ever so happy that they were on talking terms again.

"Ah, don't even mention it… We agreed with Eldarion afterwards that we would never hold a council longer than four hours again. Everything longer than that is beyond bearable" he shook his head with a smile.

"I can understand" Gilraen nodded. "Well, I'll take my leave so our dear bride can get ready. I'll see you when you are walking up to the altar" She smiled at Sybille who was just putting on her lacy silk veil.

"I'll see you at the reception. And don't think the wedding will make me forget about a certain question" her sister called warningly.

"You spend way too much time with Eldarion" Gilraen chuckled and slipped out of the door.

She hurried out of the palace, down to the sixth level to find her husband before Sybille arrived. Lord Turgon was supposed to be around as well, he had got back from Osgiliath in the morning and was determined to attend Sybille's wedding. Nevertheless, she couldn't see either of them anywhere. There was a horrible crowd in front of the ceremony hall; many of the nobility were still out there talking, some uninvited guests lurking about to catch a glimpse of the princess bride soon arriving, groups of lords talking… and that man was there too. He was staring at her again. With his disgusting watery pig eyes, barely seeing out of his greasy, fat face. She didn't know how long he had been staring at her, the first time she had noticed it was on Aryana's birthday, then in the city when she went to buy baby things with Sybille and Ëlyel and now again… She turned for the ceremony hall so she would get out of his sight as quick as possible and resume looking for her husband peacefully. Somehow his stare gave her goose bumps.

There ceremony hall was airy and empty compared to the street in front of it, it didn't take longer than a few minutes to notice her husband.

"That took bloody damn long" Torundir greeted her once she joined him in the back of the ceremony hall, as far from her mother as possible, she didn't fail to notice, but that was probably for the better. There was no point risking a scene on Sybille's wedding day. Her mother might just take it as an insult that she was here with Torundir and not alone.

"You know, I went there to _congratulate _her" Gilraen started the story. "To tell her I was happy for her and wish her all the best, things like that. And somehow, goodness knows how, this is Sybille, that's how, we ended up talking about what is happening on a wedding night!"

Torundir burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? Your sister started talking about that?" he asked choking on his chuckles.

"It's not funny…" Gilraen shook her head. "All right, it's funny, but it was so awkward. I mean she actually asked me where we lay together for the first time!"

"And you told her?" Torundir tried not to shake with laughter.

"Yes…" Gilraen gave in uncomfortably.

Torundir shook his head chuckling. "I hope she'll tell you some bed stories too, I haven't heard a funny bed story since Barahin's wedding."

"Stop that! You are horrible!" Gilraen scolded him before she burst into a fit of giggles too. "I really do not want to know what my sister is doing in bed with my brother's best friend, you know. That's just too much information."

"I'm just joking" Torundir soothed her.

"I know…" She gave him an eye-roll.

"I'm not interested in your sister's bed in the least, our bed satisfies me completely" he added with a smile dropping his voice.

The last of the guests started flooding into the ceremony hall, filling up the remaining places, waiting Sybille's arrival. Gilraen saw Lord Turgon entering too, but he only nodded to them and remained in the company of some grey haired friend of his. The greasy man arrived as well, his eyes not failing to find her in the crowd this time either. She instinctively pulled closer to Torundir as she turned away her look, not to make eye contact even for a brief second.

Instead she kept her gaze on the door hoping every moment that her sister would finally arrive. In the end it took some ten minutes before the music sounded up and Sybille entered the hall glowing with glamour on their father's arm. Gilraen thought she was going to cry. Her sister looked so sweet, so gorgeous and happy, it warmed her heart beyond words to see her being wedded.

"You never had a wedding like this" Torundir noted in an unreadable tone.

For a moment, Gilraen mused what it would be like to be standing in Sybille's place, wearing a magnificent wedding gown, walking up to the altar on her father's arm, smiling up at her husband-to-be… She could have never had a wedding like this. If they had done things properly with Torundir or at least managed to keep her premarital love life from her parents' knowledge, the king and queen would still have denied such a grand wedding to them. Even without taking her maidenhood out of marriage, Torundir would have meant a consort not befit the High Princess of Gondor, sixteen years her senior, having seduced her while being her tutor. She could have given him up and have a wedding like her sister's to Elboron or Elfwine or someone like Florian though... And she could have regretted it for the rest of her life.

"I prefer my wedding" she answered her husband as she watched Florian speaking the oath that would bind him to Sybille for the rest of their lives. "Don't offend me by even considering that a gown, a hundred guests and some flowers would mean as much as, or heavens forbid more than you to me."

Torundir only kissed her cheek in response. He never said these things, but his eyes and his kisses always gave away how happy such confessions made him. Gilraen just smiled and watched her sister vowing to be Florian's in life and death. No, in fact she didn't miss a wedding like this in the least.

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That was it. It was actually quite funny to write this, though if you think about it, it's kind of a serious topic on the whole. Well, I just wanted to prove that Sybille can feel vulnerable at times too. Even those people who seem to be bursting with confidence all the time have their moments of insecurity. Please let me know if you liked it or not, I'd really like to read your comments and opinions :)

Update should be coming next weekend, I think that'll work. Maybe it'll be Sunday, because I have urgent shopping to do on Friday :D

Have a nice weekend!


	7. Scene No 7

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

So very sorry about the delay in updating. I had so many things to do and even at the weekend my schedule was full. I wanted to post yesterday after shopping but then I ended up going to see a play and got home pretty late, so I'm only updating now. This is very short, but actually it's more like a second part to the previous chapter I posted. This is a different POV though, that's why I wanted to post it separately. Thanks for reading in advance and apologies for not updating for so long :(

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**SCENE No 7**

_- set during Sybille's wedding reception (Family Complications - Epilogue) -_

His son was included in the act of succession. He did not want his son to be included in the bloody act of bloody succession. He knew well that the chances of his son having to take the throne were more than low, which gave him some comfort, but the idea itself was something he didn't like. His son would not be king, he would be _his_ heir, he would be Lord of Maeregard once and not king. But nevertheless, it was an unbelievably generous gesture from the King; it meant that he recognized Gilraen again and accepted their son. For that, Torundir was more than thankful. And Eldarion was not somebody likely to die without a male heir, fortunately.

Returning to the Great Hall again Torundir looked around for his wife. Not very surprisingly, he found her chatting with Ëlyel by their table. It was quite funny how uncertain and reluctant she had been to meet up with Ëlyel for the first time and now they were as close as sisters. As he walked up to them he caught sight of Barahin talking with Lord Pig. Or so they started calling him between each other after Barahin's birthday celebration. Torundir never even understood why Theoron was invited to that party in the first place. The man was a poor actor and his sudden eagerness to make friends with the heir of Lord Malberen after playing away even that little wealth his father had left him was just too transparent. And that was the least of it… Even standing face to face with Barahin, the fat fucker did not have the grace to restrain from staring at _his_ wife from the corner of his eyes. That was all Theoron did on Barahin's party too, sniffed after other men's women…

Gritting his teeth, Torundir resumed his walk to their table and sat down beside Gilraen, just abandoned by Ëlyel who set off to rescue her husband from Theoron. Gilraen gave a relieved smile as she felt his arm around her and he never failed to catch her eyes as she glanced behind her back to check if that fucker was still gawking at her. His blood boiled. So this was not a fantasy of his uncontrollable jealousy, Gilraen noticed it too, it bothered her too.

"So what did my father want?" she asked him.

"What was _that_?" Torundir raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry?"

"That side glance. You know he's staring. How long has he been watching you?" he repeated doing his best to control his fury.

Gilraen shifted uncomfortably. "Tonight or in general?"

"The ceremony hall was not the first time?!" Torundir snapped not believing his ears.

"Well… I first noticed him staring at me at Aryana's birthday celebration… and there was another time, when I went buying baby things to the market" Gilraen said reluctantly.

"And why, if I may ask, did you not tell me at once?!" he hissed at her.

"I didn't think it had any meaning. I just thought it was some one-off thing, but it's not… He's staring at me all the time… Like he's going to… It just gives me the creeps the way he stares at me."

Torundir took a deep breath. No, he will not stand up. He will not stand up and not open the fucking pig's fat throat. He will not stand up and rip him into pieces. He will just sit and take another deep breath and let it go. He'll not make a scene in the middle of a royal wedding reception.

"I'm here now" he told Gilraen taking her hand. "But next time anything like this happens, I want to know of it at once. Do you understand?"

Gilraen nodded and relaxed as she leaned against his shoulder.

"So what did my father say?" she asked again, determined to concentrate on something more pleasant than Lord Fucker and his pig eyes following her.

"That he wants to include Turgalon in the act of succession."

"What?" Gilraen's jaw dropped. "Why does he want to do that? He doesn't have to do that. After I… is that really what he said?" she sounded almost touched.

Torundir gave her a fond smile. "He forgave you long ago. He is even starting to forgive me. It's a generous gesture. And I guess we can trust your brother's womanizer self that it'll never be more than a gesture. I would not like to see my son on the throne."

"Oh goodness, me neither. I don't want all that stress and burden for him I watched my father endure for years…"

"Well, being king is possibly that hardest work there is" Torundir nodded. "Given that you want to be a good king, and your father is a great king."

"…I hope he is doing well…" Gilraen mused.

"Your father?" he blinked.

She chuckled. "No, Turgalon."

"Ah. He is doing perfectly well, sweetheart, just don't worry about him."

"I hope so. Anyway about the succession act. That's just… I can't say how very nice that is of my father. I'll go and thank him. Well, when he is alone."

Torundir frowned. "Why only then?"

"It's a long story and includes my mother, I'll tell you at home" Gilraen replied with a tiny sad grimace.

Another story of the queen… And Gilraen's expression didn't promise much good.

The feast resumed in peace for another hour. Torundir finished eating in company of his wife then had a few drinks with the Forlan brothers before he ended up discussing Harad with Beregond over another drink while Gilraen was discussing baby habits and some book they both read with Salarien beside them. It wasn't long before Barahin joined them after he got bored with giving marriage tips to his _little_ brother. Torundir wondered if that was a discussion similar to the one Gilraen had with her sister previously. Well, having spent his youth in the company of Elboron and Prince Eldarion, surely Florian didn't have any questions regarding wedding nights.

"Where's your wife?" Beregond turned to Barahin, after they all got fed up with Harad.

"Somewhere here…" the man shrugged indifferently as he looked around. "Actually, I don't know… Hell, where _is_ she?" he murmured with a frown not finding her.

"Over there" Torundir gestured towards the end of the dais where Ëlyel chatted with Princess Sybille as he browsed the crowd.

"Oh thanks heavens" Barahin sighed. "This last moon is killing, every time I can't find her, I'm starting to think she is lying somewhere in labor already…"

Torundir heard Beregond laughing, but he himself just nodded absently. It was not Ëlyel, his eyes followed. The moment, he had been waiting for all night finally came.

"Excuse me" he said to his friends and standing up, made his way for the left door of the Great Hall.

A cool breeze touched his face as he turned out onto the hallway and walked down to the very end of it, enjoying the fresh air, the lack of crowd. There was only one person apart from him on the next corridor. The situation could not have been more perfect.

"A gulp of fresh air?" he asked with a casual smile as he caught up with the man. He himself was a bad actor too, but this one was so stupid he would never see through him.

"Oh…" the man muttered in sudden discomfort once spoken to. "Yes, all the crowd inside there… Someone even spilled wine all over me" he gave a chuckle as he gestured at the doublet tightening on his enormous torso.

Someone… _It was you who spilled it, fucking pig, in your disgusting urgency to stuff yourself_, Torundir thought and gave him another smile.

"Shame, it is. That's such a fine doublet and jerkin."

"Thread with southern silk" that bloody idiot replied almost proud.

"Ah. That's why the rich colors" Torundir nodded. "Match your eyes. You should be careful not to lose them."

"My clothes?" he chuckled with an amused grin.

"Your eyes" Torundir returned his smile. "Because next time I catch them staring after my wife like that, I will carve them out myself" he went on, his voice ice cold.

Theoron paled and failed to hide it. "Like what? I don't know what you are talking about…"

"Don't you now?" he sneered at the man. "Like she doesn't know if you'll rip off her clothes the next moment or not."

"That…" Theoron took a nervous breath. "…is a ridiculous accusation, my lord."

"Do you find me ridiculous?" Torundir hissed in a dangerously low voice. "I hope you'll find this ridiculous too" he growled at the man drawing his hunter knife from his boots, making the fat fucking bastard back up to the wall, trembling like a greasy pig he was. "I hope you'll find it _ridiculous_ when I run this blade through your gut."

"Please… I didn't—"

"If I catch you sniffing after my wife again" Torundir cut him across pushing his dagger to the man's throat as he held him with one hand by the neck of his silk fucking thread doublet so he wouldn't squirm away. "If I see you going near her, or heavens forbid, put your greasy hand on her, I swear I'll open your fucking guts, hang you by your own entrails and leave you there for my dogs to feed on your fat fucking arse. Did I make myself clear, or do I still sound ridiculous to you?"

"N-no…" he pressed out in a squeaky voice. "You d-did. You did. I'll n-never… never ever…"

"Get the fuck out of my sight and never look at my wife again" Torundir released him withdrawing his knife.

The coward piece of shit scurried off like a mouse. A fat, pervert, craven mouse. Torundir sheathed his dagger and turned to return to the Great Hall.

He never made more than five steps before a familiar voice spoke up behind him.

"Handling issues with your usual sense of honor and respect for other people?"

Torundir halted and took a deep breath._ Understanding issues with your usual sense of fullness and respect for things you have no idea about? _

"As always" he turned around inclining his head.

"Of course now with your son in the act of succession, you feel entitled to do anything…"

He could only reply either something very rude to that or nothing at all. And it was best to remain silent. Not like his response was required to roll on this _conversation_ or whatever it was.

"You must be happy, your work is half done."

Torundir had no idea how he managed to refrain from rolling his eyes at this level of pathetic paranoia. Like he didn't have better things to do than plot to take over the throne…

"Your offspring doesn't belong there. He should never be included…"

Why didn't he just walk away actually, instead of listening to all this crap?!

"That should be the first thing in life we agree on, _my queen_" he said bluntly.

"And it will be the last, if the Valar are gracious" she replied coolly.

That should serve as cue. Torundir bowed his head in agreement and turned to leave.

"Do not. Turn your back. On me" she uttered, voice trembling with tension. "Do not dare turn your back to me after what you have done to my daughter, to my family! She would still be sitting with us, she would still be happy if it wasn't for you!"

Torundir halted and turned around. "She is happy" he said concentrating hard not to raise his voice. "And Your Majesty must not forget that she ran to _me_ from _you_ and never the other way around."

The queen paled in fury. "Because you infected her mind! You turned her against us! She was just an innocent little girl! An innocent child until you put your filthy hands on her!"

"She was a grown woman and it was her choice to turn to me because she felt alone, because all you did was trying to turn her into her sister! She was no child or little girl to get so easily manipulated by bad men. _She_ chose me!" he retorted.

"She was _sixteen_! She was still a seventeen year old child when she had to bear your whelp!" she cried out in outrage.

"She is not an elf!" Torundir snapped at her losing his patience. "She was not a child at sixteen or seventeen. She is not an elf, and nor am I, Your Majesty. We didn't have decades to play around and wait for each other."

The queen looked as though she was going to hit him. She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "Do not dare speak to me like that again" she hissed.

Torundir inclined his head in apologies. Maybe he did go a little too far. But she did so. "And Your Majesty should not dare speak of my son like that again" he said.

Arwen's face was livid.

"My queen" he bowed his head and left her. It was for the best to finish this conversation as fast as possible.

This woman got on his nerves. He understood the pain of the mother losing her daughter, but for the sake of seven bleeding hells, he did not rape Gilraen and hold her a hostage. She was _happy_ with him... He just wanted to finally get back to the Great Hall and resume talking and drinking. No, in fact, he wanted to go home. He wanted to go home with Gilraen to their son and go to sleep with his wife in his arms.

* * *

Hmm... so does this make you like him less or more?

I don't think I abused Arwen at all, she is kind of right here. But if anybody feels offended... well, I'm sorry.

I'm planning on three more chapters. And I sincerely hope I'll be able to update next weekend without any problem. And... no, I think that was all, so I'll just stop talking and get some dinner. Enjoy spring and go to the theater! :))


	8. Scene No 8

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Well, here's a new piece, because I had time to finish it this afternoon. I was originally going to shop for groceries, but the shop was closed due to reorganizing, or something like that, and the other one went bankrupt and the new company hasn't moved in yet. I was like, okay I'll catch a taxi and go further than three corners from home, but I didn't have my contacts in and I was wearing sneakers and overall really at-home style, so I just went home and ordered sushi and finished this chapter. I hope you'll like it :)

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**SCENE No. 8**

_- set after Aryana's birthday celebration (Family Complications Chapter 34 - Birthday Surprise) - _

He had such a long day. But finally it was over. Only the good part was left. When that would start though, he had no idea. What takes women more than half an hour to change into a nightgown? An eternal mystery, that question would be. While he waited for his wife at the small parlor table, he looked back on the evening - for about the third time in a row. He couldn't decide whether he felt light and relieved or even worse than before. Feeling bad about this whole issue was ridiculous though. Gilraen was happy. He cannot possible feel bad about her being happy…

The door finally opened and his wife drifted in wearing her pale blue nightgown with matching robes. She looked beautiful. That color brought out the shine in her eyes.

"Would I be mistaken to assume that you had said something like _ten minutes_ when you left?" he smiled at her.

"It is every lady's right to leave their husbands waiting as long as it pleases them" she replied, her full red lips curling upwards. "Besides, the longer you wait, the sweeter the reward shall be."

He was about to bring her into his arms when the door opened again and a groom's head appeared.

"The Prince Eldarion wishes to talk with you, my lord."

"Now?" It was almost midnight, they would soon be going to sleep…

"He says it's urgent" the groom explained.

Rubbing tiredness from his eyes, Aragorn nodded. "Right, he can come."

The groom disappeared and he gave an apologetic smile to Arwen. "Just ten minutes."

Eldarion appeared in the door, he himself half prepared for bed. He looked stunned to see his mother. "Goodness… I'm sorry, I didn't know… I…Shall I leave? I didn't want to intrude…"

"You act like you don't have four younger sisters…" Aragorn glared at him while Arwen just suppressed a fond smile at their son.

"Yes…" Eldarion cleared his throat. "Right, then sorry for interrupting, may I talk with you, Father? I'll be quick, I just… feel like a child who needs forgiveness after wrongdoing..."

"Oh so that's what I am going to learn about" Aragorn nodded humming. At the feast Eldarion never agreed to tell him what was going on between him and Gilraen, but it was clearly something important. "That is a matter worth discussing at this late hour" he gestured his son to take a seat.

"No thank you" he shook his head. "Could we talk privately?"

"What am I not allowed to hear?" Arwen asked with hint of hurt in her voice.

"I just don't want to upset you with talking about Gilraen, Mother" Eldarion said and gave her a swift hug. "I won't keep Father long, I promise" he smiled at his mother.

"My darling wrongdoing boy" she teased him, knowing how Eldarion hated that nickname even in his childhood and stroked his cheek fondly. "I'll just go back to my room so you can have your man to man conversation" Arwen said lightly and left for the door. "And Aragorn" she turned back with a sweet smile. "Ten minutes are ten minutes to _you_. Only _I_ can take half an hour" she gave a small chuckle and disappeared.

Aragorn shook his head in amusement and turned to Eldarion.

"Well, what am I to forgive you, my son?"

"It happened long ago. Back in August. I'm not proud of it, I'm really very ashamed, in fact. Even while I didn't know she was pregnant, I was ashamed of it. But when I saw her tonight… I just wanted to burn myself alive. I would burn anybody alive who did this to her… You should burn me alive."

"Eldarion" Aragorn raised a hand to silence his son. He almost made him laugh at his passionate remorse, but somehow he could feel that the story will take an ugly twist. "_What_ should I burn you alive for?"

"I accompanied this girl to a tailor's shop and Gilraen was there too. We entered the shop and there she was, standing with the shopkeeper and… I guess those were her servants with her, I don't know. And I just got so mad. I was so mad at her all over again. _My_ little sister shacking up with _that_ man, letting him under her skirts… And I said something like she was a soiled bastard's whore. I never thought she would say anything to that, I was about to leave when she replied. That the girl with me was a spoilt, stuck-up prince's whore then. And I just lost it, my mind blacked out I was so hurt and so angry and I… bloody hell, I hit her. I slapped her on the face and she almost fell over… I don't know what happened, I just remember bursting out of that damn shop at once and nothing more. HOW could I do that?!" Eldarion broke out bitterly.

Aragorn closed his eyes before he looked back at Eldarion again.

"You _hit_ your sister?"

Eldarion buried his face in his hands as he nodded. "When I saw her tonight… She had been with child back then already! I could have killed her child!" he muttered.

"Don't exaggerate, it's ugly enough as it is" Aragorn shook his head. "A slap on the face can't kill a child. Even if Gilraen had fallen over, it would have been an unlikely coincidence to fall in a way that could hurt her baby."

"It was an unlikely coincidence Torundir didn't beat the living hell out of me once Gilraen got home…"

"No. Even when you do something as stupid and despicable and shameful, you are still my son, still the prince of Gondor and Torundir cannot simply go and punch you without losing on it. He knows that, Gilraen knows that too."

"Well then, please burn me alive. _You _can do that" Eldarion grimaced miserably.

"I am not going to do that. Guilt is already burning you alive" Aragorn sighed. "Eldarion, you need to learn to control your emotions. Have you ever seen me hit anybody because I was angry with them? Especially a woman? Believe me, there have been times when I was so angry with somebody that I felt like hitting them, but never ever got as far as to actually do so. You are a prince. You cannot afford hitting people you are angry with. And your sister? A woman? I am begging you, count to five and _think_ before you act!"

"I am so sorry…"

"I know" Aragorn went on looking straight into his eyes. "It took me long to learn that too. But you don't have that long to learn it. And your sister has forgiven you?"

"Yes, she did" Eldarion sighed. "She was nice, she said she wanted to forget about it."

"And she will, I am sure. Did she say anything about what Torundir had to say about this affair?"

"No" his son shook his head. "And he didn't say much himself. Just that it's Gilraen's decision whether she'll forgive me or not. After I told him that Gilraen had said she would forgive me, he just nodded and asked me to ensure him that he won't have to worry about protecting his wife from her own brother. And of course I told him, I would never ever hurt her again" Eldarion finished.

"You spoke to Torundir too?" Aragorn eyed him curiously. Eldarion had fumed with hatred and anger for months after Gilraen left, not a single week had passed without him expressing how he longed to rip the man into pieces who whored his little sister.

"Yes" Eldarion nodded wearily. "The least I could do was to apologize. Though… the least _he_ could do is to apologize too…"

Aragorn inclined his head. "Indeed that would be welcome… I wonder if he ever will." In fact, he didn't think Torundir would ever apologize. Not for getting Gilraen with child, but for seducing her and taking her away from them. Getting her pregnant was their own business, even though Aragorn could not get used to the fact that his seventeen year old little girl was carrying _Torundir's_ child.

"You knew of her pregnancy, Father?" his son asked.

"Sybille told us the day before yesterday. We were supposed to notice at Christmas, according to her, because we saw Gilraen on the market."

"She could have let us know…"

"She wanted to. She told me, and Sybille told me the same thing, that she was going to write a letter to us, but then we met on the market, and she thought we noticed" Aragorn shrugged. He was not actually sure he believed this story, but thinking of it, Gilraen didn't really have a reason to make such thing up.

"I think she did indeed…" Eldarion mused. "She did talk about writing some letter to us with Torundir on the market…"

"You never said you met them too" Aragorn raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't. Just heard some fragments of their conversation from the other side of the stalls" Eldarion shrugged. "So you will be grandfather, Father…" he noted, half joking.

Aragorn broke into an incredulous chuckle. "To Torundir's son. Would you have ever thought?"

His son just gave a dark eye-roll. "What of the child?"

"What of it? That baby will be your sister's son. An innocent child. I would never bear a sheer drop of enmity for her babe. I am pretty sure he will be a sweet thing. Or she, whatever it will be. I just fear for your sister. She is so young…"

"Sybille will wed Florian in two months too."

"With two of her friends getting married this spring and her sister having married last spring, I could scarcely put it off any further, couldn't I? I wish I could have, but Sybille is so in love, how was I supposed to tell her, that she must wait another year? In any case, Sybille wedding doesn't mean Sybille getting pregnant too. She is way too young and immature to have a child."

Eldarion gaped at him which soon turned into a unbelieving chuckle. "And how do you even plan to make that so?"

"Florian will be the husband of a princess. He will get land, titles, all those things come with responsibilities. He will go with you to Imrahil's great council for the summer" Aragorn said. A part of him hated doing this to Sybille, but the greater part wanted to protect her more than ever, since he failed to protect Gilraen.

Eldarion frowned. "And when do you plan to tell this to them?"

"I told them yesterday when we set the date of the wedding. I told Sybille, I wished Florian to go with you and asked if she wanted to put off the wedding till fall in consideration that her husband would be gone for the entire summer. They both said no. And so, they will marry in May, but a week later you and Florian will ride to Dol Amroth."

"So Gilraen's baby won't have a little cousin any time soon…" Eldarion shook his head with a smile. "Poor Florian" he chuckled and stood up. "Thank you for speaking with me, Father. And apologies for intruding."

Aragorn rolled his eyes lightly. "You're welcome. And please keep that counting to five before you act practice in mind" he said with stern look.

"I will" Eldarion nodded closing his eyes in shame. He turned back from the door with a small smile. "But you know, Father, how nice it would be, if Gilraen's baby had a little uncle or auntie instead of a cousin?" he asked grinning.

"Good night, Eldarion" Aragorn shook his head laughing.

"To you too" his son nodded. "To Mother, too" he added with a last grin and left.

Aragorn sighed as he watched him leave. And now he would go to Arwen's bedchamber, they would debate over from which of them Eldarion inherited this crazy recklessness for half an hour and they would end up in each other's arms kissing, getting dangerously close to that little uncle or niece… No, Aryana was the last, they had agreed long ago. Not like that meant they couldn't love each other every once in a while though.

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Okay, some novelty, at least POV-wise. Let me know how you liked this :)

Two more chapters are to come. I'm not yet sure what the last one will be. It might turn out three more chapters if I can't choose. Update is coming in two weeks time, because the end of school term is approaching and I have tons of stuff to do/study for :/ I'll do my best.


	9. Scene No 9

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Okay, so it has turned out that my most productive periods are the ones during which I am actually supposed to do something else (by something else, mean school work). And thus, even though I was supposed to be writing essays this week, I ended up writing he newest Scene. Whatever. This is a pretty short piece, but I didn't want to make it any longer, that would have also meant POV problems, so that's all for now.

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**SCENE No. 9**

_- set on the night before Gilraen's fatal encounter with a straw bale (Family Complications Chapter 2 - Just Another Manic Monday) -_

The Old Guesthouse was crowded, as always. He did not usually visit this inn, he preferred more quiet places, those for the citizens of Minas Tirith, which weren't stuffed with foreigners all the time. The only reason why he fought himself through the crowd this time to get a glimpse of the hidden tables of the cozy and most peaceful corners was because he hoped to find a certain person sitting at one of them. After two steps a copper skinned merchant squire crashed into him balancing a pint of ale in his unsteady hands and muttered a half drunk 'Pardon m'lord' with thick southern accent. That was why he hated the Old Guesthouse. With an annoyed grunt, he headed for the counter and browsed the crowd impassively. It was in one of the corners he finally caught sight of a familiar figure sitting by a smaller table, gazing into his goblet with a pensive expression.

"You know what men are usually thinking about when they sit over a drink like that all alone?" he grinned as he walked up to the table.

"What?" a pair of amused eyes looked up at him, utterly unsurprised to see him, apparently.

"Women" Barahin said sitting down.

Torundir gave a snort. "Aye, that was what I would have guessed…"

"That boy, I forgot his name, the one you currently have as a squire told me I would find you here" Barahin said waving for the serving wench to order a goblet of wine. "Another drink? This round is on me" he turned to his friend.

"Another drink is always welcome, especially if it's on you."

"Anything for that troubled face" Barahin grinned teasing and his friend rolled his eyes.

"So you wanted something in particular?" Torundir asked, once they both had full goblets in their hands.

"No, just a drink" Barahin shook his head. "And of course I can't live without your ever so amazing company" he added with an ironic chuckle.

"Ah, and whatever I would do without some sarcasm and a free drink?" his friend chuckled too and they clinked their goblets.

"So what are you doing here all alone?"

"Didn't you figure out the moment you arrived so humorously?"

"Were you really thinking about some woman?" Barahin raised an eyebrow ready to burst out laughing any minute his fried would nod or give a positive response. That was so unlike Torundir.

"Aye" he said and Barahin almost choked on his wine laughing. He never thought he would live to see the moment when a woman gives Torundir a headache. "It's not funny…" his friend shook his head with a glare. "I really have no idea what to do with this… situation."

"What situation? Have you finally found a woman you like?"

"It's not as simple as that" Torundir grimaced. "I'd be the most happy if it was as simple as that. But she is not somebody I'm allowed to like."

"Who says so?" Barahin raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"My better judgment and moral standards" Torundir grinned.

"Why, is she somebody else's wife?"

"Not yet."

"What's the problem then? Go ahead and get her. I don't see anything wrong with that. Nor did your father when he had done the same" Barahin said emptying his goblet. "The next round is on you."

Torundir waved for the serving wench and ordered a flagon of wine. "That was the other way around, what my father did. It was him, who broke up his _own_ engagement after he met my mother. And she is not even betrothed. The woman in my situation, I mean."

"_Not even betrothed_" Barahin echoed. "Then I honestly can't see the problem."

"The problem is I can't have her. But I want her so bad, you have no idea how fucking bad I want her. Every time we speak I have an urge to grab her and kiss her and eat her, she is so sweet. But I tell myself I can't do that and I don't. When I wake up hard in the morning, she is the first thing to come to my mind. But I tell myself it will never be more than a fantasy. And that was all working well up until a week ago."

"What happened a week ago?" Barahin found himself hooked. Last time they talked of women, more seriously than tit size and butt quality was back five years ago, when he had been betrothed to Ëlyel.

"The moment came when I couldn't resist the urge and _did_ grab and kiss her" Torundir chuckled torn between a bitter grunt and a smug smirk. "And since then it's so bloody fucking hard not to think about all the things I still want to do to her."

"You already bedded a number a women you shouldn't have. Why not another one?" Barahin spread his arms. Torundir never made a fuss about anything like this.

"Because…" he started with a frustrated sigh. "Because I don't want to do that to her. She is not that sort of woman who just goes to bed with anybody because he asks nicely. We are friends, in a stupid way. And I'm not sure that a good fuck would be worth as much as to throw that away by treating her like any slut."

"But the waking hard every morning thinking about her symptom will only pass if you bed her, I hope you know that" Barahin noted with a chuckle. Friends… Torundir had only ever been friends with women who were either his or Beregond's or the Forlan borthers' wives; or who had been wives to his father's friends who were usually out of his age group. But to be friends with a young woman who he even wants to fuck was simply odd.

"I don't know. In fact, I'm not sure it would. What if I bedded her and it all gets worse? And I'll end up still wanting her, even more than before?"

"Or you can forget about her and bed somebody else…" Barahin offered.

"Nobody is sweet like her… or has bust like hers, or lips and skin like hers… She smells like a peach."

"Smells like a peach? You take a smell at her or what? That's really something _friends_ would do" Barahin burst out laughing.

"She smells fucking good, 'right? Of course I smell her. I smelled her when we kissed…" Torundir laughed shaking his head. "Aw, fucking hell, how good she smells… She has this beautiful bust" he went on with a chuckle. "You know, I'm talking to her and the next thing I know is that it's not her eyes I'm looking at."

"Something any nice tits will do to you" Barahin grinned.

"Ah…" Torundir let out a frustrated sigh as he throw his head back in agitation. "I'll just drop it and try to forget about her" he decided straightening.

Barahin had lost track of the thread of this logic long ago and just shrugged in response. He had never been in a situation like that. If he wanted a woman, he seduced and bedded her and a day later all this misery passed. That was the receipt. _Torundir_ had taught him that. Well, true enough that these girls were usually commoners, or of lower birth and thus the moral standards were not so strict. He never bedded a highborn girl whose father would know _his_ father so things could get ugly. But Torundir bedded that slut of a daughter of Lord Galador with no regard to the moral issues and got bored with her after two nights, like he always did. Ah, but this woman was not _that kind_ and she was even his _friend_, whatever that meant…

"I'll tell her that we should just stay friendly and keep a three-step distance" Torundir mused and drowned his wine. "I have no idea how I'll be able to do that…"

"I told you. Get another woman to draw your attention away" Barahin gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"I should" he agreed.

"Find someone who is prettier or wittier, then you'll forget this girl more easily."

"There's no such" Torundir grinned. "She is the prettiest, smartest, sweetest woman I have ever seen. Ah, fuck it, Barahin, I so want to see what's under those satin skirts of her…" he broke into a bitter smile.

"Just make up your mind" Barahin shook his head smiling. "If you decide that you'll let it go, stop fantasizing about her. Draw your attention away. With somebody ugly then. What of her, by the way? Would she even let you under her skirt?"

"I _can't_ stop fantasizing about her. If I could, I would have already stopped" Torundir glared at him. "About her…" he mused. "She knows that we shouldn't be in this situation. She wants it too, but knows that we can't do this. But somehow she never really tells me to stop. She has always been unable to deny me anything. I just… I don't feel comfortable with taking advantage of that."

Barahin looked at him incredulously. "Since when have you been so considerate of the situations and feelings of your women?"

"Since she is… my friend, for the want of a better word. She is sweet woman, a kind person. I can't do that to her, what I always do. Bed her without giving any thought to what she'll do or feel after I take my leave in the morning and never speak to her again. That's fine to do with all the cheap sluts I meet on the street or in an inn or at some feast, but not with her. And if I don't get bored with her and want more? I'll just drag her down with me? Such a fucking mess, this is…"

"Well then just drop it, and get a slut to take her from your mind" Barahin sighed with a sympathetic nod and filled their goblets.

"Aye… I'll do that… I'll tell her we should stop as long as we can and keep a safe distance..."

"Then look around and find yourself a consolation wench" Barahin gestured at the counter with an encouraging smirk as he patted his friend's shoulder.

"Tomorrow" Torundir chuckled eying the tavern wenches. "I'm going home now. I need to get some sleep, I'm leading a patrol at daybreak" he stood up. "Thanks for listening to my shit" he gave him a light slap on the upper arm and Barahin rose to stand too.

"Any time, brother" he laughed and saying their goodbyes, they both headed home.

* * *

Yeah, well man proposes, god disposes... His plan was to tell her they would stop. Better judgment lost yet another battle against instincts and emotions.

Update will come next weekend, or anytime afterwards because my semester will be over soon and exam period means a hectic schedule.

Question is: would you people like to see a flashback on Aragorn and Arwen's wedding? Because if yes, I'll do an eleventh chapter on that. However, it'll not necessarily focus on Aragorn/Arwen fluff, though surely I'll include such too. (It'd be Arwen's flashback, so I won't 'abuse' her)


	10. Scene No 10

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

Waiting for test results - another oh so perfect time to edit and update and check emails like a maniac. So here the new chapter, I just finished editing. Summer update (it's quite hot outside)... what happened to spring, I could ask? From 5 degrees to 28 in two weeks... Go and have an ice cream, people :D Thanks for reading an advance :)

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**SCENE No. 10**

_- set after Prince Imrahil's visit (Family Complications Chapter 8 - Twelve Days Later) - _

She left. If there was anything that bothered him in her or in their relationship, it was that she always left. They spent an hour, or two, or three together, today even more, five hours at least, and then she left. She went home to her family, to have bloody dinner with some bloody guest who was licking her parents' backside to get to marry her, or with that stupid bloody son of the Steward who her parents wanted to wed her to. He remembered spotting him talking to her sometimes during Imrahil's visit - and he remembered wanting to gut him every time he saw them talk. She was _his_. And not the Steward's stupid son's. She was his to talk to, his to walk with, his to eat with, his to take to bed… She preferred eating with him too. _And_ she never cooked for the Steward's son. He had no idea what he so liked about this cooking thing, but how impressive it was? Nobody ever cooked him pudding… But she had left and now she was eating pudding with her family. That was all right, as long as the Steward's son or any other shitty young lord wasn't there too…

Somebody knocked on the door.

"My lord?"

"What?"

"Just wanted to check if you were home, my lord, we weren' sure when we got back" Pilares explained from outside. This woman talked so much… "Is there anything you need, my lord? Do you want dinner? Or shall I—?"

"Just shut up and leave? Be so kind. I'll call you if I need anything" Torundir cut her across. Even despite the three inches thick wooden door, in his mind's eye, he could see Pilares leaving with a sulky face. And thanks heavens that she left. He wanted to be left alone to resume staring at the ceiling and being jealous.

He didn't remember the last time he had been jealous. That was probably because there had never been such time before. But Gilraen was _his_ sweet little kitten and even the thought of anybody else talking to her bothered him. The fact that she had left bothered him too. He would have preferred her to stay. _How_ she could have done that, he had no idea and didn't even care. He just wanted her to stay. He liked having her around. He liked hearing her laugh, smelling her skin, touching her hair, peeling her out of her silks and brocades. He liked telling her about his things and liked listening to her stories. But at some point she always left. He hated that.

She had always been a sweet girl and good company but Torundir had never thought he would grow this fond of her. He had never thought he would spend hours cursing the fate because she had to leave every time they were together. He had thought, and hoped, no matter how much he would have hated to do that to Gilraen, that once he got her to bed, she would get less interesting, less lovely and he would desire her less. On the night after their first time he had thought for hours about what he felt and what he wanted. Already then, the only conclusion he had reached was wanting her again, as soon as possible. He remembered telling himself that things would get better though, that he would lose interest in her and with an ugly and disgusting goodbye he would be able to let go of her and their affair at some point. Two weeks later the only change he had experienced was that he had started hating Elboron along with basically every male who he saw talking to Gilraen. And things never seemed to get any better ever since.

Twelve days ago, when Gilraen told him that he could get any woman while she was busy had been a strange moment. The scum douchebag part of him felt proud that she considered him masculine enough to seduce any woman with no difficulty. But another part of him felt almost hurt to realize that she had thought he was only playing with her. He wasn't. He wasn't _playing_ for a long time. The playing part was before he actually got her to bed, while they just flirted, while he seduced her. Ever since he got her though, it was no playing… not a single day passed without running his mind over what would happen to them, how this situation would resolve, if it ever will.

He still had no idea of that. All he knew was that he missed her all the time when she wasn't with him, that he hated Elboron and everybody else who was a potential suitor to her with passion and that she was the most amazing woman in the world.

Torundir sat up with a sigh. That was enough of foolish thoughts for the night. He stood up to go downstairs and get some supper, see if there was anything to do. On the small table by the door there was a quill and some paper. He didn't have any letters or anything else to write. After eying the sheets for another moment, taking the quill he dipped it into the ink bottle and pulled a sheet in front of himself.

_Got home all right, my sweet? We never agreed when you'd have your next lesson. I'm not planning to wait another 12 days before I see you again._

He tore off the top of the sheet and rolled up the message. Maybe she'd reply tonight and let him know when she had time. He descended to fetch a bird to send the message to Gilraen.

"My lord?"

Torundir rolled his eyes and turned to face Pilares hurrying after him from the kitchens.

"I don't remember saying I needed anything…"

Pilares held up two bowls between her fat, callused fingers. The ones Gilraen made the pudding into. "If I may ask, my lord, do you have any idea of the contents of them dishes 'cause it's nothing I've cooked." For the first time in her life, Pilares had a confused expression on her face, instead of a smug knowing one.

"It's you who is in charge of the kitchens, how would I know?" Torundir shrugged and left for the back yard.

He didn't want to send a message bearer, it was a little late for official corresponding with the Princess of Gondor and a bird was quicker too. He attached the small scroll to the leg of his most trusted hawk and let it fly off. He hoped she would reply… she should, in case she is not having supper with some shitty little lord… He wished she were only his. Her sweet face, her lovely laugh and beautiful body… What he wouldn't give to have her stay with him all the time…

Gilraen was still in his thoughts as he went back to the house and ascended back to his bedchamber without having any dinner. He wasn't hungry at all. But his bed still smelled of Gilraen. That only made him miss her in fact, however he still loved her smell lingering among the pillows where they lay in each other's arms. To stop himself from thinking about her, Torundir just got a book and, pouring himself a cup of wine, sat down to read for a while.

It wasn't long before his hawk landed on the windowsill with Gilraen's reply though.

_I got home just fine, my lord. The next lesson we can have whenever you wish, I am free every day after one o'clock in the afternoon. The decision is up to you, although the sooner the better. Good night and sweet dreams, my lord._

_P.S. This bird scared the 'bloody hell' out of me._

Torundir couldn't help a small chuckle escape his lips. He loved her replies, they always made him smile. There was only one way they could have been sweeter: if she had been there in person, so he could hear those words right from her mouth.

_Let's make it Monday two o'clock then. Would prefer tomorrow, alas we don't teach on Sundays. Sweet dreams, I shall have, of you. Good night, angel. _

_P.S. Birds don't bite, my sweet. But next time I'll send a kitten. Or a black bunny. _

He attached the new message to the hawk's leg and let it fly off again.

While he waited for the bird's return, he went back downstairs to order a bath to be prepared and find some work to do.

"My lord?"

"What?" Torundir murmured absently as he went through a pile of scrolls looking for Erandur's writing on what sort of exam he would have to come up with for the Academy.

"There was a messenger, my lord. A letter from your sister" Donland stepped in and held out a neatly folded paper.

"Just put it down, I'll read it tomorrow. Give food and some place to sleep to the messenger" Torundir replied. He knew full well what his sister wanted. But right now he didn't feel like thinking about whether he wanted to train his fifteen-year-old nephew or not, since it would also mean the lad moving in with him. And that was just uncomfortable now. He would have to find an excuse to put him out every time he wanted to have Gilraen over. It would be an additional bother that he didn't need.

Heading back upstairs after he found Erandur's scroll, Torundir wondered when Gilraen had become the center of his life that he started organizing everything around seeing her, meeting her and holding lessons for her. It was not a good thing if a woman was the center of somebody's life, the example of his father had proved that. Also, to have_ Gilraen_, the King's daughter as the center of his life was even more foolish. She was a forbidden fruit. A forbidden fruit he had already plucked off and tasted, to be perfectly honest, which actually made the question somewhat out of date.

On the windowsill, his hawk was already waiting to be admitted with Gilraen's letter.

_Monday two o'clock, it shall be then. Good night to you, my lord, and see you in your dreams, or in mine, if I fall asleep sooner. _

_P.S. Alas, here is no safe place for black bunnies, as I have told you, my lord. Also, bunnies don't carry messages and thus, in exchange for a letter from you, I'm willing to prefer hawks anytime. _

Torundir put away the letter with a fond smile, deciding that he would refrain from responding and let her sleep. Aw, she was so in love with him… And he was starting to have the impression that this feeling was not one sided.

* * *

Selfish scumbag, right? :D So, please tell me what you think, how you liked the chapter :)

There'll be one last one-shot, an additional one. The flashback of Aragorn and Arwen's wedding. And that'll be all of me for a good while, haha :)

What else is there... Oh yeah, update... I'm having a test this week, we are so close to the end of school. So that means I'll probably not have time to finish it by next weekend, but I'm doing my best as always and hope the get it done as soon as possible.


	11. Scene No 11

AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

I'm sorry for the delay. I wanted to post this in the weekend, but I just had so many things to do, couldn't get the time to go through it properly and do the editing. But now, here's the last extra one-shot part chapter thing. Ah, it's so odd... Wow, someone just spoke English under my window. Oh, love tourists. So, yeah, this is just odd. That I'm posting the last piece... I'll totally miss updating :( Thank you for reading it in advance :)

* * *

**SCENE No. 10+1**

_- set somewhere before Sybille's wedding (Family Complications - Epilogue) -*_

_*obviously the flashback is set 22 years before 'somewhere before Sybille's wedding'._

Sybille was off to see the manor Lord Malberen had prepared for her and Florian, thus she was only having Brianneth and Aryana for a cake and the tea in the garden. They were both sitting in a study room, working on some tasks their tutors had assigned when she found them.

"Ready for some fresh air?" Arwen smiled as she approached the girls.

"Yes! Finally! I thought you would never come to save us, Mother" Brianneth cried out in relief and tossed away the old book she was sitting over.

"No" Aryana announced with a defiant look. "I am far more bored with Sybille and her stupid wedding than with History task."

"That is a shame" Arwen feigned a sigh. "Then, I'll only be telling this story about one of your father's journeys that I remembered this morning to Brianneth. Come, Bria" she put an arm on her elder daughter's shoulder and turned for the door.

"Wait" she heard Aryana say. "Will you really tell a story of Father's journeys?"

"Yes" Arwen turned back. "It's a shame you have such an important task, but maybe next time…" she trailed off trying to hold back a smile.

"No, no! I want to go too. I want to hear that story too!" Aryana shook her head insisting.

Arwen couldn't go any longer and broke into a fond chuckle. "Then leave your boring book and come!" she smiled at Aryana. There were two things that would always hook Aryana's attention under any circumstances; adventures and her father. She adored Aragorn and could spend hours listening to stories of her father. Aryana jumped up at once and placing her hand on her back, Arwen gently escorted her daughter out of the room.

"How could he bear the stink?" Aryana asked an hour later, once Arwen finished the story of finding Gollum. At least as much as she knew of it. Aragorn could always come up with new details to every story every time he told them - obviously those were his memories, he knew a lot better what had happened on each adventure than she did.

"Pardon?" Arwen blinked at her daughter.

"The stink. The marches are said to have a horrible odor. How could he bear it while he looked for Gollum?"

"I believe the mission was important enough, that he would bear it. Or maybe it's not that bad once your nose gets used to it" Arwen mused. "We shall ask him of that" she nodded making a note in her mind.

"Goodness me... Can't we talk about something less disgusting?" Brianneth proposed wrinkling her nose. "I'm not bored with Sybille's wedding at all, for instance…"

Aryana gave her sister a glare. "Only because you hope to dance with that stupid boy!"

"If you brushed your hair sometimes, maybe somebody would like to dance with you too!" Brianneth hissed back.

"Aryana, please. Don't hurt your sister's feelings! We already had a story that you liked, now we should talk about something that Bria likes too, don't be so selfish…" Arwen tried to soothe her daughter. "And Brianneth, Aryana will start caring about boys in a few years too, leave her be until then…" In fact Brianneth was right, concerning the hair at least, it always took hours to plead Aryana into brushing her hair, but she didn't want to make her younger one think that she always took Bria's side.

Aryana shot out her tongue at Brianneth in victory. "Fine, let's talk about something stupid she likes."

"Aryana, stop that! Do you want me to tell your father that you can't behave?!" Arwen scolded her, starting to lose patience. "What would you like to talk about, Brianneth, if not Sybille's wedding?"

"I don't know. Something that has nothing to do with stinking corpses… Some feast or event you took part in, Mother…"

"Did you ever take part in an adventure?" Aryana looked at her curiously and Arwen burst out laughing.

"No, darling, I never had such a fondness for adventures as you and your father. I have always preferred quiet and peaceful events like dinners, feasts or just a fine conversation."

"What was your favorite feast or event?" Brianneth asked.

"That's a good question. We had so many beautiful events. I always loved when we had guests from far away, especially from Mirkwood, they always brought beautiful music and amazing stories. But there was one feast that I loved more than any other" she smiled at the girls. "Aryana will hate the turn of the conversation, I know" she added with a chuckle. "My favorite event was my wedding to your father."

Aryana sniffed. "Did anything_ interesting_ happen on your wedding or was it just a usual wedding with the usual wedding things?"

Brianneth beamed. "You are so stupid, isn't it just lovely that Mother's favorite event was her wedding to Father? Aw, how romantic is that!"

Arwen laughed. "In fact it was really interesting and not usual at all. The feast was quite a challenge" she mused remembering. "It was the first time that I met all the lords in person, got to know members of the court. It was very interesting, because I always thought I knew so much of Men and their ways, through your father and in general… But that night I came to realize that I had no idea of mortals and their ways at all" she smiled.

All the stories her father had told her, all the mortal guests they had over the decades and centuries, all the books she had read… Nothing was like standing among Men, in their city, in their world.

"Why, what happened?" Aryana asked, still unsure whether she liked this topic or found it _'stupid'_.

"If you are counting on some tavern fight or dragon attack, I will have to disappoint you, darling" Arwen giggled and put a sympathetic hand on her back.

"Ehh…" Aryana dropped her head in disappointment. "_That_ would have been an interesting wedding…"

"Well, then I will be happy to arrange a dragon to attack you on your wedding" Brianneth sang teasing. "So what happened, Mother? Were the lords nice? Did you meet anybody we know?"

"Oh yes, I met many people you know. Lord Erandur, for instance, he was so much younger back then…" Arwen mused remembering. "Of course I have met many people before the wedding too, Lord Faramir, naturally, and the Lord Beregond, and the previous chancellor. You don't know him though, he had died in a few years, he was very old… And we met the Lord Malberen, too…"

But it was not the lords she had been so anxious to meet on her wedding reception, but their wives. She remembered asking Aragorn after she had arrived in Minas Tirith to tell her the most important things she should pay attention to among mortal Men. She didn't want to make any mistakes that would cause Aragorn problems with his new people. What Aragorn had said then, made her laugh. _"Just be careful never to overestimate a mortal woman's age."_ In the upcoming days however she had met more mortal women and found that estimating their correct age was incredibly difficult. Her handmaid for instance had been nineteen, though she would have guessed something like twenty-two, twenty-three. The Royal Householder had been forty-eight, though Arwen never thought the woman looked older than forty... At least Aragorn had great fun observing as she practiced correct age-estimation and soon made up a whole game of the issue so he could continue teasing her. With that, they were looking forward to a very amusing reception.

The wedding itself was majestic. There was no other word to describe. To walk up to the altar with Aragorn and drown into his eyes while the holy man declared them bounded for the rest of their lives was something she would have never exchanged for a few extra centuries of life. This was her life, this was what she had always wanted: Aragorn. And they were so happy, they couldn't utter a single word, they just held each other's hands and smiled and couldn't take their eyes off of each other. The shouts and cheers of the hundred guests in the Ceremony Hall were nothing but a distant blur compared to the unspeakable joy and happiness she felt, only by holding Aragorn's hand, as his wife.

"Asked anybody of their grandchildren yet, my beautiful queen?" Someone spoke into her ear softly as the wedding feast went on.

"So mistrusting, Your Majesty! I would never overestimate the age of anybody that much" Arwen smiled as she turned around to face her husband.

"Judging from the tries I had seen, it is a well based concern, meleth nin" he teased on kissing her cheek.

"Well, well, be careful, my king, your regime depends on what I ask these fine ladies of tonight" she laughed joking as she nuzzled against him. "By the way, I haven't met many people so far, we just finished the last meal, so you are safe for the time being."

"Then it's high time you met some people, my love" Aragorn nodded and fed her the last piece of grape from her dessert plate. "Over there" he gestured at the officers' longtable. "There's Beregond with his wife, the Lady Salarien. They have a son, three years old."

Lord Beregond's wife looked to be a happy, young woman as she chatted with her husband's fellow officers' wives around the table, while a small boy stuffed cake into himself beside her. It was a sweet scenario, indeed. "And she is.. oh… somewhere around twenty-five?" She guessed blinking at Aragorn with musing smile.

"I would say she is closer to twenty, but you are not hopeless…" he chuckled.

With the last of many desserts served and half eaten already, the chief groom, who was in charge of announcements opened the time for every guest to congratulate and greet the freshly wedded King and Queen. That sounded so weird and so amazing at the same time. She was Queen!

First they were officially greeted by Lord Faramir and the Lady Éowyn. Arwen still wasn't sure if friendship was indeed the only feeling the Lady Éowyn still had for Aragorn, but she thought it best to keep these doubts to herself and accept Éowyn's friendly approach. The first of the nobility to walk up to greet and congratulate them was a lord named Malberen, head of the wealthiest family in whole Gondor, according to Aragorn. He introduced his wife, the Lady Doriel to them, who was a humble, kind young woman of her mid-twenties, at least as far as Arwen could judge. They had a little boy too, the sweetest child of the whole feast who even performed a proper bow in front of her, most probably upon his mother's insistence.

"And this little gentleman is…?" Arwen smiled at the child, looking up to Lady Doriel for answer.

"Our son, Barahin, Your Majesty" Malberen answered her.

"How old is he? Half a grown man, already…"

"He turned six just a fortnight ago, Your Majesty" Lady Doriel said stroking her son's dark blond head. "He wants to be an officer when he grows up."

"A warrior!" the little boy corrected her with a scolding glare.

"And that he shall be, I am sure" Aragorn smiled.

This child was so sweet, there were no words to describe. "And you already know what sort of weapon you shall carry?" Arwen asked him.

He thought for a moment before he replied with sincere seriousness in his eyes: "Sharp sort."

That was all for everybody, she and Aragorn burst out laughing along with Lord Malberen and his wife. Little Barahin was beyond adorable. Lord Malberen and his family soon returned to their table though, to give a chance to the rest of the lords to greet the King and Queen too.

"He was so cute!" Arwen tugged at Aragorn's arm. "Aw, such a sweet child…"

She couldn't wait to have her own sweet child with Aragorn.

Her husband nodded, but he was already greeting Lord Galador and his wife. They were both very young with no children yet, so Arwen just gave them her congratulations on their wedding which they had just last fall and her condolences on the death of Galador's father, who fell during the battle of Pelennor. After them, Prince Imrahil arrived and introduced them his daughters. They were both nice, though the younger one was nowhere near as beautiful as her sister, in who the Lady Éowyn's brother was already starting to take a great interest.

"Your Majesties" a middle-aged lord approached them a few minutes after Imrahil left for his table, and his daughter for a dance with King Éomer.

"Lord Forlan" Aragorn inclined his head in greeting.

"May I introduce my wife, Lavarien" Lord Forlan replied with a smile gesturing at his wife, who curtsied and expressed what an honor it was to meet His Majesty. Aragorn then, presented her to the couple too, as his Queen.

"My queen" they both bowed their heads shortly and the Lady Lavarien even gave her a stiff smile.

"It is nice to meet you both, my lord and lady" Arwen said. "And the young men are your sons?" she asked after three seconds of embarrassing silence.

They were indeed, Lord Forlan had two sons, one fourteen, the other ten years old; and also three daughters, ranging from the age of four to nine the Lady Lavarien told her with the same measured expression. What reason this woman had to dislike her so, Arwen had no idea… Judging from the number and age of her children, the Lady Lavarien had to be in her late thirties, Arwen noted in her mind while the couple said their – kind and friendly – goodbyes to her husband. And she looked even older.

"How old was _she_?" Arwen murmured to Aragorn after they left.

"Early thirties…" Aragorn grinned. She would never get it right, it seemed.

"She was very..."

"Proud?"

_Obnoxious_, Arwen finished in her head.

"That's not the word I would have used, but yes. She was definitely _very_ proud" she nodded.

"That is a trait of ancient Gondorian families, you'll have to put up with. Remember Boromir. He was the same, but you must not judge them by this. Boromir was a good man too and I am sure Forlan and his wife are the same, once one gets to know them" Aragorn told her. "And you can't blame the poor woman for envying you…" he added with a small smile.

"Envy me? Why in Valar's name would she envy me?"

"My love, you are the Evenstar of your people, while she is not the most beautiful of women even among her own kin…" her husband said.

"She can't possibly envy me for what I _look_ like…" Arwen sighed. Such thing would never happen among Elves. Maybe mortal women held their looks as delicate a matter as their age. Nonetheless, Aragorn aimed to compliment her, and did not fail to draw a pleased smile onto her lips as she watched Lady Lavarien join Beregond's wife chatting with her blond friend at one of the longtables. Not the Lady Lavarien, but the blond friend _was_ the most beautiful of women among her own kin, however, Arwen noted with an incredulous smile.

"Everybody loves you, my dear. That few who don't, will love you too. Just be patient and give them time. Gondor had not had many Elven queens before" Aragorn took her hand and kissed it.

She nodded and twined her fingers into his. "I am so happy to be your Elven queen" she smiled as she leaned against him.

More guests arrived to greet and congratulate them, Lord Erandur, a sly looking man named Hirgon, the elderly chancellor she had already met before. They were all very kind and friendly with her. There was another middle-aged lord, an ambassador of the Lord Faramir's father who greeted them and introduced his sons; the poor man's wife had died giving birth to their baby daughter just six months ago. After he left, they took a break so they could dance for a while.

She danced with Aragorn, with her father, with her brothers, Legolas even with Gandalf. That was one of the merriest moments of the night. Aragorn laughed so hard as he watched them, it was so good to see him like that, carefree and happy again. And surprisingly enough, Gandalf was a good dancer; better than Elladan and Elrohir combined, though the whole scene was still immensely hilarious. Almost competing with the other funniest moment of the night, when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli decided to play a game of telling the most embarrassing stories of each other during the dinner. That eventually resulted in Gimli declaring Aragorn the winner once he mentioned that in the next round he would tell Legolas of a certain memorable moment he had shared with Gimli by the bridge of the Helm's Deep gate*. Aragorn was merciful enough and so Legolas never got to know what happened at the Helm's Deep gate, but he promised Arwen he would share it with her later.

All the while many and more guests joined the dancing, the Lord Galador and his wife, one of Lord Erandur's sons and his betrothed, and even the elder son of Lord Forlan led a similarly young girl, no older than thirteen or fourteen, to the dance floor. They were amazingly adorable, though of the two, it was Lord Forlan's son who was more fond of the other, his golden brunette partner was mostly just enjoying the attention of the first of many youths who would fight to win her heart. Lord Beregond took his wife for a dance too leaving their son to the care of their blond friend who, heavy with child, already returned to her table having tired of dancing quickly enough. Whatever she was playing with the little boy in her lap was amusing enough to attract the Forlan girls as well, who were soon all squalling with laughter too. Shortly a dark haired boy joined the gathering and devoured three slices of chocolate cake listening to the blond lady's stories before he joined the younger Forlan brother to make two apples joust, using their forks as lances for the fighting fruits. The little ones looked at them as though they had gone mad, but changed their minds at once as the blond lady gave each of them a peach which they declared princesses at once and started begging the boys to save them from the dragon, the half eaten chocolate cake. She would make a wonderful mother, there was no question, Arwen mused with a smile as she watched them.

Soon they returned to accepting greetings and congratulations as there were still dozens of lords willing to meet her and Aragorn. Arwen didn't mind, in fact it was interesting to get to know these people and to Aragorn it was also very important. They were their people now, after all, and a King and Queen should always know their people. After two lords and their families left from West-Gondor another nobleman of the White City rose to approach them with his young, pregnant wife, no other than the blond friend of Lady Salarien. Aragorn had known them already, the lord at least and thus it was Arwen who got to be introduced first, as his beautiful queen. They congratulated on His Majesty's marriage, and Aragorn congratulated them on the baby which the woman thanked with a warm smile.

"Your first baby?" Arwen asked her but the Lady Narlien just stared back at her with wide, light hazel eyes as though she was deranged.

"The fourth" her expression was as stiff as Lord Forlan's wife's, she sounded almost offended by the assumption. It was Arwen's turn to stare wide eyed, then; this woman was just way too young for that.

Aragorn gulped down a chuckle, probably at her failure to observe the woman's age and saved the day. "And where's your son? Practicing archery somewhere?" he asked the man and turned back to her. "Lord Turgon's son sneaked off with some friends during the battle of Pelennor so they could shoot orcs from the battlements. He has a real talent for the bow."

"I would voucher he is entertaining some little girl with the story right now, Your Majesty" Lord Turgon replied with a chuckle and gave Arwen a measured smile too.

"Oh… I had no idea" Arwen replied, more to her husband, than to the Lord Turgon and his wife who both still seemed to deny her all the friendliness they offered to Aragorn. "And how old is he?" she added, willing to give another chance to a proper conversation.

"He'll be twelve in the autumn" the Lady Narlien replied, pride and love radiating from every inch of her body as she talked of her son.

Arwen was horrified. Twelve year old boys shooting orcs instead of staying safe in hiding places was not something her Elven standards could take in. After a moment of embarrassing silence Lord Turgon and his wife gave their rather warm goodbyes to Aragorn and bowed their heads with a rather _cold_ "my queen" to her before they took their leave and returned to Lord Forlan and his family.

"_Twelve?_" Arwen turned to Aragorn in outrage.

"It is an ugly thing, I know" her husband nodded. "But I myself have put bows and knives into the hands of thirteen year old boys at Helm's Deep too, and the situation here was even worse. There was war and nobody could protect those boys except for themselves. And not only themselves, but injured soldiers they have protected too."

Arwen sighed. She would never understand this. And she was glad she wouldn't.

"So, I believe I did not _over_estimate her age, suggesting it was her first pregnancy. Is there some extra points for that?" She looked at her husband with a smile, willing to change the topic to something more pleasant than children in war.

"No, since you never got it right, only _under_estimated it" Aragorn grinned at her. "How old did you think she was?"

"Twenty-five? She doesn't look any older…" Arwen said defensively.

"She is around thirty for what I know. They have an elder daughter too."

"_How_?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Do I need to enlighten you?" Aragorn laughed at her.

"At this age, I mean!" Arwen shook her head with a giggle and gave him a fond eye-roll.

Aragorn shrugged. "Shall we go for a dance, my beloved queen?"

Nodding, she accepted Aragorn's arm and they made their way for the dance floor. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the Lord Turgon and his wife introducing their son, the chocolate cake eating dark haired boy to King Éomer and the Lady Éowyn.

Yes, their wedding did indeed involve some _very_ interesting moments… If she had known back then… If she had had any idea...

"Mother?"

Wakening from her memories Arwen turned back to Brianneth and Aryana. "Pardon me. Did you say something, darling?"

"I asked if you met Florian too" Aryana repeated with a suspicious frown.

Brianneth rolled her eyes. "Florian is only a few months older than _Eldarion_, you silly! How could Mother have met him at her wedding?!"

"Oh…" Aryana nodded. "All right! So what? You always ask so much stupider things!"

"Girls!" Arwen interrupted the quarrel with a sigh. "Please! Let us go now and see if Sybille is already back so she can tell us about the manse" Brianneth nodded and jumped up, while Aryana was already opening her mouth to say some, possibly not very kind thing about the idea. "Or" Arwen went on before her youngest could speak up. "Find your father and ask him of how he could bear the stink on the hunt for Gollum, will that suffice, Princess Aryana?" she asked with a glare.

"Yes, _that _will" Aryana nodded with an evil smirk and stood up to follow them back to the palace.

* * *

*(_Referring to Gimli asking Aragorn to toss him because he couldn't jump long distance, but never to tell Legolas. Movie. /The Two Towers - Battle of Helm's Deep) _Just in case.

* * *

Now read Prologue of Family Complications and_ try_ to take Barahin seriously :D Just joking.

So this was my last update pro tempore. Thank you so much for reading this extra extra piece. Also thank you so much for reading all the rest of this story too and for your kind and motivating reviews. :)

I hope to return once with more shit :D On this story, or another one, who knows? We shall see. Until then beautiful summer (or winter) to everybody!


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